NEWS
EVENTS
The Media and Governments role in the Demise of Kids Company
Other | Tuesday 1st March 2016 | Ashleigh-Rose
The BBC recently aired a documentary focusing on the enigmatic Camila Batmanghelidjh and her charity Kids Company.
The film focused on a turbulent summer, which saw the charity pelted with accusations of financial mismanagement and allegations of sexual abuse.
The latter of which led to Kids Company closing its doors for the final time.
The documentary ends on a sour note leaving the audience with the idea that Camila is a woman who refuses to see her own failings and has, let down the people who she wants to help most.
However, the ending seems to miss a vital point. This charismatic woman who had grown one of the biggest charities in the country from nothing single-handedly raised £120 million. Eventually, this money was not enough to keep the charity afloat, but this was less to do with financial mismanagement and more with the fact that demand on the charity was just far too large.
The Government failed South London Children
David Cameron’s Government have spent the last six years dismantling the support networks for working class families in this country. Westminster’s benefits cap has directly affected London families yet MPs refuse to acknowledge the effects of these policies on the working class communities.
The truth is Kids Company provided an important service to families in a part of London that the Government just can’t reach. They worked through adversity to provide a service to these children that should have been the responsibility of social services.
Westminster failed these children, Camila provided a service which was based on love and care but most importantly did not judge any person who walked through the door on their past actions. She took the time to listen to the children and understand how the poverty they live in forces them into trouble.
Camila Proved a Problem to the Government
Camila is not your average charity CEO and why should she be? She has built an extremely successful charity from nothing. She is loud, proud and colourful, in other words positively un-British. But this is exactly why she has built a charity that works.
A haunting image in the film shows throngs of families waiting outside of the South London centre as staff with tear stained faces close the gates for the final time. Camila built a workforce of passionate and intelligent people that believed in her model for making a difference to inner-city children. Right to the end her staff are dedicated to the cause, even after the closure of the centre, they turn up to pack food bags for clients in desperate need.
The truth is Camila highlighted how the Government was failing the poorest communities in the country. Westminster was already beginning to face adversity to their plans to cut working tax credits, Camila in her rainbow coloured dress was just intensifying the problem.
They needed to prove her to be incapable. When the financial mismanagement accusations didn’t stick, they reached for the next shocking headline. And as has been proved time again, sex abuse allegations stick, no matter what the investigation outcome.
The demise of Kids Company is another in a long list of media casualties and Camila once a media darling is now a vilified figure in pink lipstick and a colourful dress.
You can watch the documentary in full on YouTube
