Camila's Kids Company: The Inside Story

How are you this morning, Lynn?

'June 2015. I received a call from Camila Batmanghelidjh.

'I'd made a documentary, ten years ago, about Kids Company.

'Now Camila was asking if I wanted to film her again.'

Just checking.

Yes, yes.

Are you ready for it?

Yes, I'm ready for it.

It's revenge.

Round one.

She was the Chief Executive

of one of the country's most successful charities.

But Kids Company was under growing financial pressure.

Reports were circulating it would have to change its ways to survive.

Camila! Camila!

In the coming months, I was to find myself at the heart

of one of the biggest news stories of the year.

CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK

CLAMOUR

At the start of filming, Camila seemed invincible.

Lovely to see you again.

A media darling feted by Government and celebrities alike.

It seemed she had no desire to step back from the fray.

I won't toe the line.

I will say it as it is.

They are about to murder

the very thing that works.

Voices against her and the charity raged.

Cameron was mesmerised by Camila Batmanghelidjh.

The Government thought it was the right thing to do

to give this charity one last chance.

She had no idea just how desperate the situation would become.

REPORTER: 'The investigation is being led by officers

'from the Sexual Offences Exploitation

'And Child Abuse Command.'

As the charity imploded in front of my eyes,

Camila was accused of letting down

the very people she'd set out to help.

Camila, Camila, Camila, Camila!

Who was the woman behind the myth?

Would she ever see anything wrong with the charity she'd created?

What would you like me to say, Lynn?

I am so sorry? But what am I sorry for?

Accusations continued to fly.

There is not financial mismanagement, OK.

Am I allowed to say that?

Nothing has been brought to our attention.

Who was to blame for the collapse of a charity that had helped

some of the most vulnerable children in society?

They made me the Angel Of Peckham,

and now, they're going to make me the Demon Of Peckham.

This programme contains some strong language

'Camila asked me to meet her at the charity's headquarters.

'I'd known her for ten years.'

How are you, darling?

'The charity's Trustees were waiting for her upstairs,

'but she had something to tell me first.'

Morning.

Let me tell you what's going on, Lynn.

Shall I come in? Yeah, come in.

Hello.

Now, Lynn... Yes?

Look, this is the cause of all my problems, my Miss Piggy bag,

because everyone thinks that just because I wear funny clothes

and I have a Miss Piggy bag... MOBILE RINGS

that I must be unable to run a business.

The arrangement the Government has made with the Trustees,

part of that deal is that I step down as a chief executive.

And do you know what I need to become, Lynn, an ambassador!

SHE LAUGHS

I'm going to be an ambassador, Lynn!

They want you gone?

They want me gone, yeah.

What are you supposed to do?

I'm going to be entirely Persian about it, Lynn.

I'm going to smile and accept my place

as a woman on the sides,

not knowing how to run a business.

That is exactly what I'm going to do.

On the surface?

On the surface. Meanwhile?

Meanwhile, I am going to work with my extraordinary team

and the children to fight back.

MOBILE RINGS They're chasing me.

They're waiting for you upstairs? Yeah.

I've got to go to my funeral appointment, Lynn.

Yeah, the death of the chief executive.

Hello, lovely one! How are you?

'Camila was obviously in trouble,

'but she'd invited me to film whatever lay ahead.

'When the bosses were in though she asked me to keep a low profile.'

Do the Trustees know about me at all?

One of them.

But not quite...

..not quite what you're here for.

(Go away, Lynn, you're not supposed to be here!)

'I wasn't sure what Camila was up to,

'but it was clear she wasn't going anywhere without a fight.'

Kids Company began nearly 20 years ago.

It was a tiny operation in the back streets of South London.

Were you very frightened at that point? I was frightened.

I would have been frightened, a little bit. I was frightened a lot.

A psychotherapist from Iran,

Camila said many of the children were abused and neglected.

Hello, how are you?

Ten years later I made a film about Camila.

Hello, my darling.

By then, she had a number of drop-in centres.

Good to see you.

This is our mural, do you like our mural?

The kids have painted the mural.

Oh, hello!

Oh, are you going to give me...?

Here, children and young people could just turn up.

There was everything, from two hot meals a day to education,

counselling and money when they needed it.

Camila's philosophy was to provide everything a good parent would.

She created a family and she was the mother.

No child was ever turned away,

not even the most dangerous.

Don't make me come up the stairs!

The only power you have over them is the power of love,

and that's the power people don't understand.

It's like going up the wrong alley all the time.

And then the right solution's staring you in the face,

but professionals don't like to talk about love.

Did you make that? That's beautiful.

After a year with Camila, I knew her to be an extraordinary woman.

She had a vision of how to care for these kids

and there was no doubt in my mind

that her work transformed lives.

Let me see it fit you. No, no, it won't fit me like that.

Ten years later, I've returned to a very different organisation.

Kids Company now costs ?24 million a year to run,

and has a staff wage bill of a million pounds a month.

It was an enormous operation and was now in trouble.

130 - Michael McIntyre.

1.3 - Coldplay...

Over the years,

Camila has raised ?120 million herself.

Her donors have been happy to oblige.

What does that add up to?

It says here 9.864.

That's pretty good. So, if JK Rowling comes in..

Yeah, it's done. It's done.

This is my list.

So, these are all... I identified people to beg,

and if my begging's been successful, it goes yellow,

and if I'm nowhere near it yet, it's red.

And, David Cameron, I'm very organised,

even in my begging!

SHE LAUGHS

I can't... I don't know.

Who are these people?

Philanthropists.

You know, companies, the general public.

I've just called this poor man in America, you know,

and, clearly, I got him out of bed.

And I think he might send me about ?25,000

to get us out of insolvency.

It's shit.

It really is.

'Ever since I've known Camila,

'there have been countless financial crises.

'Now, it seemed to be different.

'People were turning against her

'and she wasn't sure who to trust.'

MOBILE RINGS Alan Yentob.

'It was her boss.'

Alan? CONVERSATION INAUDIBLE

Hello.

'Alan is the Chair of Trustees.'

Yeah.

'He is also an executive in the BBC.'

Ten million committed in the first year is doable.

'He's trying to get some money out of the Government.'

Well, I'm putting it together right now.

Alan, I'm putting it together right...

Yeah, I'm putting it together right now.

So, I'm in the middle of doing that.

OK. OK, cheerio, bye.

..Lynn, the fickleness of government.

The charity believed the Government had promised it sustainable funding.

Camila certainly had years of Government recognition

and ?43 million pounds' worth of encouragement.

Camila has always argued the money is justified as Kids Company

was doing was the Government should be doing.

What she saw was desperate and increasing need.

Children with mental health problems,

homeless teenagers, asylum seekers -

with an open-door policy,

they'd all been welcomed in.

The level of need here is phenomenal.

You know, I've worked for social services in front-line assessment

and it's the same here.

We are basically operating at the same level as the local authority.

These are kids who rely on Kids Company.

Some of them rely on us for food

and to push and fight for them to get safe accommodation.

Spending huge amounts of time with very vulnerable kids,

it's the best way to help them.

You know, meetings and forms

and paperwork don't change people's lives,

people change people's lives.

You know, what we do here is put people who care

and who've got heart and passion and intelligence

into the lives of kids who need it, and that's really the system.

It's no more complicated than that.

Now the charity is on the brink of going bust.

The Government has promised they'll bail them out,

but, in return, Kids Company has to downsize.

The money will cover redundancies,

and they expect Camila to step aside.

I mean, right now, I think I just need to find someone

or an organisation with money

to turn this around, because I don't want to...

I really don't want to let our staff go.

Thank you so much.

OK. All right. Bye.

This sounds like another plan, Camila. Yes.

I'm trying every which way

to save our staff's jobs,

so I'm hoping, that through a campaign,

I can turn the redundancy money that they might give

into money to continue running,

because the amount they are giving to make the staff redundant

is exactly what I need to be able to continue.

You're going to be doing something behind the scenes?

I'm not... I'm not...

I never break the law.

We have to be very clear about that.

I never break the law.

I just stretch it a bit! SHE LAUGHS

Because if you're asking me,

the correct law is to take care of these children properly,

so I want to follow the correct law.

And if the law of the land is not correct,

then we have to slightly break it.

It's a chess game,

I'm playing chess with psychopaths.

Someone might think, "Well, you're an equally big nutter,"

but my nuttiness is in the service of children, so it's OK.

MOBILE RINGS

HMRC.

They want their money

and I've got no money to give them.

That's going to be a very, very delicate conversation.

You didn't take the call? No.

Sometimes you have to give yourself a breathing space, Lynn.

SHE GIGGLES

No, I didn't.

PRESENTER: 'The founder of charity success story Kids Company

'is under pressure from the Government to step down.'

July 2nd, the story's out.

It's not just about Camila being forced to stand down.

Former staff and clients have been talking to the media

about the way the charity is run.

I have spoken to former clients who've told me

that they would regularly receive cash in envelopes -

in some cases, large sums of money -

and allowed to go and spend it on whatever they want,

seemingly to encourage them to keep attending the charity.

Good morning, darlings! SHOUTS OF GOOD MORNING

The war begins!

Laurence was in charge of strategy.

So, you should limit your media appearances.

If you just focus on the children... Yeah.

..you can take personal attacks... Yeah.

..but you're not going to let the children suffer. Yeah, OK, good.

Some people in the Government have been out to get Kids Company

because we raise too many difficult questions.

Don't mention, don't even respond to financial mismanagement. Yeah.

Unless you're asked, and then talk about... No, they've been asking.

Talk about auditors and the quarterly evaluations.

Just focus on the children. Yeah.

In 19 years, we've passed every audit.

It's not about me, it's not about the charity,

it's about the children and young people who need our help.

I want something done about them.

The allegation is it's because of serious concerns

about the way that the charity is run. That's not true.

We have never been told by Government

that we're not properly run.

Every report has been exemplary.

For every war you need lipstick.

Why do you think they're doing this?

It's not about mismanagement, that's a red herring.

How do you explain that the money is not being properly spent

and that therefore your management, you know, should come to an end?

All these allegations are completely untrue.

The Government thinks you're part of the problem.

I'm sure the Government thinks I'm part of the problem.

I won't toe the line, I will say it as it is.

I will challenge them when I need to challenge them.

For 20 years, Camila has campaigned on child protection issues.

She's had her critics along the way

and now believed she was the victim

of a malicious campaign to discredit her.

There may be some bad stuff that comes out

that is very strong criticism. I mean... There will be a lot.

I think whatever comes out, you should just come and ask me.

You know, where I've made a mistake

and I'm not aware I've made it, I will apologise.

And where I think I stand by it, I'll stand by it.

You know, I... And if there was wrong-doing somewhere?

If there's wrong-doing somewhere I want to hear about it,

and I would want to be able to address it, yeah.

'Allegations came thick and fast.'

Quite simply, on a Friday it was allowance day.

And money was handed out

and it was in the form of cash in envelopes and it meant

that there were relatively large numbers of young people

coming to collect money, not to engage in the interventions

offered by the youth centre, but simply to collect their allowance.

I knew about these envelopes ten years ago.

There's nothing secret about them.

Then, they were small amounts of money

given to kids who were studying.

TEARFULLY: It's disgusting, Lynn.

Sort of middle-class perspective on what money means.

But how does that marry up, Camila, with the stories

about hundreds of pounds in brown envelopes every Friday?

First of all, it's not hundreds of pounds,

and if there is ?100 in there it might be,

you know, a teenager with four siblings.

It's all very carefully worked out,

it's all based on assessment.

Oh, my goodness me!

The sort of support I'd seen was for children like Chesney.

I filmed her years ago when she was nine.

She came to Kids Company's after-school club.

She'd been coming since she was a toddler

and loved all the activities.

I'm making a vase.

Morning.

Come on, wake up.

Come on.

Chesney's 15 now.

She's one of six children and the whole family relies on Kids Company.

They live in a two-bedroom flat in South London.

It was like special, I felt really special at Kids Company.

It is all I've ever really known.

'They became my second family.'

Go on.

Chesney and her siblings are actually the second generation

to go to Kids Company.

Her mum, Nicola, went as a troubled teenager.

You lot, can you hurry up!

Over the years, they've received everything from counselling,

activity holidays, extra tuition and food vouchers.

Chesney herself has had exceptional help from the charity.

Three years ago, Kids Company got her into boarding school.

I would have been pulled into a gang

if I stayed here throughout my secondary years.

I felt myself slowly slipping downwards,

and I didn't want to go downwards, I wanted to go upwards,

and I realised that in time.

I wanted to go into possibly law,

but Camila told me that was actually quite boring,

and she knows I'm a very creative person, so a journalist or a lawyer.

The charity is spending ?15,000 a year on Chesney's education.

Yeah, I've got to go again!

It's a great deal to spend on one child,

but I'd seen this sort of intervention transform lives.

In the press, the stories were getting worse.

There were shocking tales of excess,

claims that piles of money were handed out

with little control over how it was spent.

Camila confirmed there were some clients who received

exceptionally high levels of financial support.

But she maintained it was because of their particular needs.

Annie, my love, are you all right? I am surviving.

You're surviving. Did you bring all your art materials?

I've got my bag here. Yeah, very good.

My paintbrushes and my paint. Good. Are you going to find a nice desk?

Yes. That's going to be your permanent one, yeah.

Oh, my days, I'm going to have my own desk, Camila!

Yeah, you're going to have your own desk.

I'm going to be professional. You are.

I am always professional. Yeah. Camila, I love you, you know.

I love you, too, sweetheart.

Isn't that beautiful?

And she does it all out of her head.

So, so talented.

This talent...

..is what we've got to work on. Yes.

Anyway, let's get some art... And get kicking.

Get kicking. And do this.

Yes, we've got a lot of work. I'm ready to do this, Camila.

Yeah. A lot of work. Go and set up your table.

Yeah, I will.

OK.

I'm, like, next to Camila.

So, I'm happy.

Annie comes from Jamaica.

She suffered a violent and traumatic childhood.

Her sister was murdered,

her mother and her grandmother died shortly after.

She was 21 when she arrived at Kids Company,

but that was some years ago.

That's the most amazing little birdie you could find right now.

I'd been invited to Annie's home.

Morning, morning.

Come into my humble little castle.

That's my favourite, this lady.

That's the first thing I'll see when I come in

and the last thing I'll see when I go out.

She's always with me even when I'm home alone.

This is a special person in my life.

This is my sitting area,

sitting, dining and kitchen in one.

I believe like happiness begins at home.

And if you have a nice home

and you are comfortable in that environment,

you are ready to go outside and face the world.

For 13 years, Kids Company

had completely supported Annie financially.

The charity had given her cash, food vouchers

and covered all her living costs.

She had not been able to work or receive benefits.

Annie was an asylum seeker until very recently.

Camila maintained someone else usually shared this flat

and said Annie contributed by volunteering for the charity.

It is my everything.

Kids Company is my whole life.

As I said to you, I cannot see myself away from Kids Company

or see myself without Kids Company.

I mean, of course, I suppose...

How old are you now? I'm 34 now.

People are all going to question

why you are looking after this woman.

Because...

Look at her.

She's very special.

Very, very special.

Any household who has an adult child with special needs

will recognise this, we're no different.

If I don't see her

and, literally, look after her

like a special person that she is,

then, you know, she could fall apart...

..and become very suicidal and very desolate.

So, you know,

I have to keep that eye on her.

And there have been a couple of times

when she's been on the phone

and she was ready to kill herself.

But, in theory, you shouldn't be looking after her.

In theory, I shouldn't be doing a lot of things, but...

..in spirit...

..I hope I make the right choices.

Press scrutiny is now turning to Alan Yentob as well as Camila.

The newspapers are questioning his conduct and record

as Chair of the Trustees for the last 12 years.

Good morning, Lynn.

I'm coming to see my lovely, lovely, lovely staff,

whom I love very much. Come on, Lynn.

Two weeks since the Government told Camila

to stand down as Chief Executive,

she'd come to the main drop-in centre in South London

to address the staff.

Ah, hello, my lovelies.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

SUSTAINED CHEERING

Ah! You're amazing.

You're amazing.

Sit down, my darlings.

Where we're at is that, obviously, Government have come up

with this equation which is,

"We'll give you three million,

"shrink the organisation down to ten million and Camila step down."

The reason I'm refusing

is because, if I give in to their narrative...

..by proxy, their assertion

that we are mismanaged gets confirmed.

OK.

Yeah.

APPLAUSE

Remember, remember, we have forgiveness,

compassion for all those who do wrong.

And David Cameron's top of the list at the moment, OK.

LAUGHTER All right. Bye.

APPLAUSE

I was taken aback by Camila's defiance in the meeting.

She wanted to fight, but I couldn't see how it could work.

Camila, the Government money is conditional on you standing down.

Yes.

Well, Lynn, we'll just Tipp-Ex that bit on the document

and then sign it!

SHE LAUGHS

At the beginning, you were sort of resistant to downsizing

of any sort, but it is inevitable now, isn't it?

No, I still want to resist it.

I'm still trying to work out how to resist it.

Camila, is that realistic?

The Government may not give you

your three million if you don't stand down.

And even if they do give you your three million,

you're not getting funding next year. Is that realistic?

Realism never got anyone anywhere, Lynn.

Aspiration...

..and imagination got people

to transcend barriers.

To the last minute. I've got to hold on to aspiration,

and imagine a better situation

and bring it about.

A few days later,

Camila's position hadn't changed,

but the Board of Trustees were taking matters into their own hands.

They're legally liable for the proper running of the charity.

They've appointed a new Chief Operating Officer

who's taking the office right next door to Camila's.

He'll be making the cuts whether Camila likes it or not.

The new man is in.

Double Glazing.

"Double Glazing"? Yeah.

That's your name for him?

Yeah, because he looks like a double-glazing salesman.

And when he communicates,

he doesn't connect with you for real.

So, it's as if he's speaking behind double-glazing.

He needs forgiveness and compassion. LOCK BEEPS AND CLICKS

That's what we'll give him.

Hello, lovelies! SUBDUED HELLOS

How are you?

No need to be miserable, we're winning the war.

'And there he was.'

Right, Lynn. Shall I just close the door? Yeah, close the door.

So, his role is

to shrink Kids Company

by 14 million.

That means getting rid of

about 450 staff.

Appointed by who?

Appointed by the Trustees.

Approved by the hedge fund men.

He was even signed up and brought in before I even got to meet him.

So, he was presented as a fait accompli.

The disrespect is amazing.

Now, I ran this organisation for 19 years.

They've had to do barely anything.

And what's your impression of him, personally?

He's perfectly reasonable,

vanilla-like, non-descript.

A hatchet man.

You know, you'll come in...

..and he'll deliver the,

you know, the sort of cut.

And he'll do it, because he's not emotionally involved,

he's not campaigning

to change things.

He'll just do, you know,

like a clean bit of surgery and be gone.

Laurence, have you heard the latest?

No, what's happened now? Come, I've just got to show this e-mail.

And Alan Yentob sent it.

Wait, wait, wait.

He wants you to send this. "Dear, all, this is a note

"to introduce you to Colin Whipp, who is taking on the role

"of interim Chief Finance Officer and COO.

"He is here to help me and the Board

"manage our way through these times of tight funding.

"Colin has lots of experience and understands how hard you all work

"supporting our children and young people. Love, Camila."

He wants you to send that this afternoon.

That's impossible. They're even telling me what to write!

Yeah. He wants that to go out.

Over the next few weeks, some philanthropists

work with the Government and devise a new plan to rescue the charity.

It seemed Kids Company would be saved, but with huge cuts.

Then, at 11 o'clock at night,

I receive a phone call.

The deal's in jeopardy. Tomorrow is payday,

but there's not enough money in the bank to pay the 650 staff.

Ah, Lynn, where have you been?

We're so tired.

We are so, so tired.

So exhausted.

Because the media have been generating

so much poor publicity,

these philanthropists have now freaked.

They've just lost their nerve.

They've lost their nerve, yeah, yeah.

Because of the media.

Do you know what's going to happen?

The silliness of the media...

..is finally going to put the nail in our coffin.

So, I mean, are the staff going to be paid tomorrow?

Oh, my God, Lynn, they have to be paid.

But is there money to pay the payroll tomorrow? Not right now.

Because the whole point was that the Government money

was supposed to come in and we'd use that to pay the payroll.

How much are you short of?

For the payroll tomorrow

we need 500,000.

A half a million?

Half a million, Lynn.

And this is supposed to go through in the morning?

It's supposed to go through in the morning.

Oh, it's not looking good, Lynn.

Thank you. See you tomorrow, OK.

For three days, the staff went unpaid,

then, finally, the rescue deal went through.

The charity got the ?3 million they were promised.

After weeks of being on the edge of disaster, it was time to celebrate.

Kids Company had been saved.

But then, out of the blue, the unthinkable happened.

MUSIC: BBC NEWS THEME

The BBC understands that the Metropolitan Police

have started an investigation into a number of allegations of crime

involving the children's charity Kids Company.

REPORTER: 'The investigation is being led by officers

'from the Sexual Offences Exploitation

'and Child Abuse Command.'

Allegations which now present...

..years later...

..about which I knew nothing.

We will cooperate with the police fully.

I am filled with horror...

..at the thought

..that someone may have been harmed...

..in our care...

..and we are not aware of it.

'It's the duty of local councils and, indeed, the police,

'to investigate any allegation

'where young people may have been abused,

'and I think the public would expect nothing less.

'The police are now asking anyone with any information

'or concerns to contact them or the NSPCC.

'It's one of Britain's most well-known charities,

'but now finds itself facing what may be some difficult allegations.'

And now, it's a witch-hunt.

You just feel the storm is so big...

How am I going to save the staff and the kids in the middle of it?

That's all that keeps going through my head.

So, I'm just thinking, "Wow".

It's too big now. It's a bit too big, yeah.

Because it's all about money, isn't it?

It's reputation...

..and a poor reputation.

They've already made me sound like I'm a mismanaged...

managing individual, even though we passed every audit.

Now, this second one

is now

we're a child protection failure, as well.

The next day, July 31st,

the Trustees vote to close the charity.

What can I say, Lynn?

You know, it gets to a point where you think...

..you know..

It's like the level of adversity is enormous...

..and we've all been at it for weeks...

..trying to save it, trying to save it,

trying to save it for the kids.

TEARFULLY: We failed.

I think.

So, Lynn...

..we've got to get pragmatic.

I've got to work out how I do this.

Yeah, it's like thousands.

Just on our travel pass and food voucher list are 3,000 people.

Kids Company may be about to close,

but there's a hand-out of money that has to happen today.

Tony's driving to South London with the cash,

but it's late, and there are desperate clients

who are fearful this might be the last time they get paid.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

People need their money. They need money.

The lady called me, you know how much she's getting?

Just ?10 food voucher. They are edgy.

Food voucher, ?2,340.

And, in cash, ?9,290.

# Ghetto, ghetto living

# These streets remind me of quicksand, quicksand

# When you're on it, you'll keep goin' down, goin' down

# And there's no-one to hold on to

# And there's no-one to pull you out

# You keep on falling, falling

# And no-one can hear you calling

# So you end up self-destructing

# On the corner with the tuli on the waistline

# Just got outta the bing doin' state time

# Teeth marks on my back from the canine... #

This is what people depend on

to make sure that their kids go to school,

they have something to eat.

COMMOTION

MAN: I'm telling you - this is my money! I want my money!

My money! My money! My money! My money!

The sexual abuse allegations have changed everything for Kids Company.

The Government's been told the charity is going to close.

Some of the money they'd given three days ago under the deal

had been spent paying staff.

But the charity wanted to keep the rest.

MOBILE RINGS

Hi.

Oh, they want it back?

Oh, that's ridiculous.

The Government's demanding its money back?

Are you fucking serious? Yeah.

They want the money back?

Bastards.

They want their money back.

They want 2.3 million back.

Really? They can't have it.

Absolutely not.

Whatever Camila might have wanted,

the Government wasn't giving money to a charity that had closed.

There were no reserves and no means of cushioning the blow.

After 19 years, Kids Company was closing for ever.

We're really going to try our best

not to just leave people without anything.

SOBBING

This is the only place that I've ever received

something very good for my son.

What we need to remember is most people who come here,

they don't buy the Guardian, they don't buy the Telegraph.

They didn't know. This hadn't hit them until today.

And now that it is hitting them they're terrified.

There's so many people that are suffering.

So many families they don't have anywhere to go,

they don't have anybody to help them.

This is the only place they have come to find refuge!

COMMOTION

I'm afraid you need to make your way out.

It's like we're in a Third World country giving out aid

to people who have nothing.

This one or the bigger one?

And it is going to be devastating.

I don't know what else to say.

I've got lots and lots of memories.

ALL CHANT: Save Kids Company! Save Kids Company!

Why? Why?

This is a disaster.

Who's going to pick this stuff up once we're gone?

SHOUTING AND COMMOTION

We have done the best we could

by the most vulnerable kids that I've ever come across in my career.

And this worked, and it didn't stop because it didn't work,

it stopped because it ran out of money,

and it only ran out of money because of malicious stuff in the press.

This room is filled full of the most passionate,

the most dedicated, the most talented workers

I've ever worked with.

And, you know, if one tiny good thing can come out of this

it's that all of us go and we spread the message

of how amazing this model is

and how amazing the work is

and how it is possible to work with children

doing it like a family would.

It is not OK when agencies like Kids Company

refer children to Social Services...

who are harmed and abused.

I'm talking about 10-year-olds sleeping under cars.

I'm talking about 13-year-olds trying to hang themselves.

I'm talking about 16-year-olds on the run from people with guns.

That's the level of risk that we have been dealing with.

That's the reality of work that Kids Company had been doing.

CLAMOUR

Camila! Camila!

Kids Company might have closed, but the hunt had only just begun.

What everyone wanted to know now was who was to blame.

Can you respond to the allegations about the sexual allegations?

No, I'm going now. I promise you, those allegations are not valid.

In 19 years, we haven't had

a single child protection problem in the organisation.

All day, reporters tried to get answers.

Can I ask you about the Kids Company thing? I don't want to talk.

Is there anything more that you could have done?

By the evening, there were shocking witness and victim accounts.

Clients and former staff gave details of alleged abusive

and violent incidents which they claimed weren't properly handled.

'This charity is not spending the money wisely.

'Can I remind you, wait a minute...'

Six weeks after the saga began,

the Chair of Trustees appeared on television.

It was the first time he'd answered his critics.

Clearly something has gone horribly wrong.

This charity has been shut down and the accusation is

it primarily did so because of financial mismanagement within it.

Right, I am saying... And you were Chairman of the Trustees.

Can I just say, it is not... There is not financial mismanagement, OK.

Am I ALLOWED to say that? Well done!

Did you know about these allegations of sexual abuse?

Had no idea. And I don't believe them for one minute.

One of the problems we have is that no-one has told us

what they are until... I don't even know what they are now.

You were Chairman of the Trustees,

surely, it was your job to know about it.

This is a charity that looked after 36,000 children,

'it's rather important! Would you apologise to those children

'and indeed the workers at Kids Company

'that you did not do your job properly

'as the Chairman of the Trust, the man in charge?

'You don't seem to have listened to what I've just said to you.'

Alan has come out publicly now and spoken. Yeah.

This is after the event. Yeah.

Well, I think before that,

he was very worried about Government

and his position in relation to, you know,

having to make sure that he was moderate,

so that he could get the Government funding in.

And then at the same time,

there was the negotiations for the BBC licensing.

So, he's in a very, very difficult position.

Everybody wants a simple answer.

I mean you know, who is to blame here, Camila, I mean, it's.. Yeah.

It's a very good question who's to blame.

I just think...

..it's a collective

..madness...

..that the media,

the politicians,

engaged in...

..and I was supposed to be killed off.

No blame?

Are you doing it to me, as well?

What would you like me to say, Lynn?

I am so sorry?

But what am I sorry for?

I'm NOT sorry I gave the kids money.

I am NOT sorry I bought the kids nice things.

I am NOT sorry I fought for them. I'm NOT sorry.

The only thing I'm sorry about is I didn't raise enough money.

What would you like me to be sorry about, Lynn?

It seemed to me Camila was in denial.

I questioned whether money had always been spent wisely.

Annie's been entirely dependent on Kids Company for years.

If Kids Company aren't supporting you, now,

what's going to happen with your rent? I don't have a clue.

I don't know, I don't know where to start from.

When's it paid up till, do you know?

No, I don't even have a clue about that.

I used to think I have a future...

..but now,

the future is just so blurred...

..because it's like I'm in the middle of nowhere, yeah,

and don't know which side to turn.

And I don't know if someone's going to come and see me in the dark

and switch the light on for me.

So, then...

if I'm stuck in the dark too much...

..the only thing I can say is should I just stay in the dark and die?

Oh, Annie...

No-one's going to let that happen.

That's what I'm saying, Camila's not going to let that happen.

So, I'm still in this dark place...

..and I'm still waiting for her...

TEARFULLY: ..cos I know she's going to find me, here.

She's going to find me anyway,

and she's going to take me back out of that dark place.

Camila continued to be the person

Annie relied on for absolutely everything.

She's vulnerable, and my worry is,

what's going to happen to her now?

In the world outside,

the tabloids were unearthing more damaging stories.

Some seemed to be nonsense, others I couldn't ignore.

Tony was one of Camila's longest-serving members of staff.

I'd known him since filming ten years ago.

He'd always said his family had been well cared for by Kids Company.

But now I discover it amounted to ?130,000

on a range of support for both his children.

Another press statement was being prepared.

Tony Cavolli is employed by Kids.

The employee in question is employed by Kids Company as a key worker.

As a key working manager. He...

He also does operations. Yeah, does operations. Yeah.

He has a car for purposes of his job so he can do outreach work,

and it's categorically untrue that you employ a chauffeur,

and we'll just put that out. Also we can prove it,

because when I go to other places, I use a completely different driver,

you know, when I go and give speeches. I know that, I know,

but we don't want to draw attention to that either,

because the bill for that is...

runs into like 30,000 or 40,000 a year, which we don't... No, no, no.

Well, whatever it is. It's five figures, isn't it? Yeah.

MOBILE RINGS

Oh, no! Yeah.

Oh, no. This is - this is the one. Yeah.

That is bad. Yeah. I completely ignored him. Yeah.

I think we should just ignore him. No, just ignore that, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, just don't even mention that. No.

This is the very worst of it now coming. Yeah.

What is this? No, we're not even going to talk about that. What?

Yeah, it's... No. No, it's just nonsense.

This is all like Camila's, you know, living with her PAs

and they're all together, and... Is there something else?

It's all rubbish. No.

This was the story Laurence didn't want to talk about.

Camila, what is going on?

I'm feeling uncomfortable.

About what?

Well, because you wanted me here as an independent observer. Yeah.

And I feel I have to ask you...

Ask me anything you want. What would you like to ask?

You know, I thought this was a charity for disadvantaged children.

It is.

Could you not have found another house without a swimming pool?

I mean, it... Was that...?

I mean, in retrospect,

do you not think that that was an error of judgment?

Again, I didn't think about it.

I didn't think about it in terms of what outsiders would think.

I made sure that I rented the swimming pool separately.

And it's not a luxury pool, it's a pool the size of this floor.

For the last 30 years,

Camila herself has lived in a modest two-bedroom flat.

We wanted to have somewhere for the kids

who were very traumatised

to live without the possibility of getting attacked.

Come to the mansion swimming pool, Lynn!

CAMILA CHUCKLES

There's another door.

There you are, darling.

Go and have a look.

Camila said she'd paid a ?1,000 a year for use of the pool.

She denied reports the five-bedroom house wasn't always fully occupied.

"It was a psychiatric facility," she said,

"and the ?5,000 a month rent was value for money."

It doesn't feel like a mansion to me.

The expectation that poor children should have diminished quality,

this is the sub-text, isn't it? I don't abide by that.

I think that these kids deserve to have quality

like rich kids might or like middle-class kids might.

Camila has always had her own moral code.

She considers herself primarily accountable to the children,

but for me, personally, everything had changed.

You've never ever accepted any sort of mismanagement?

No. No, I think...

But, Camila, how can that be the case, really?

Because it depends what you call "mismanagement", OK.

If you are saying mismanagement is lack of reserves,

we always wanted to have reserves

and we spoke to Government about reserves...

Yeah, but Camila, ANY sort of mismanagement?

Well, what mismanagement are you referring to?

It's such a broad...title.

When we started, you said that I should come to you

if I felt there'd been any wrong-doing.

Yeah, yeah, and I'm glad.

I'm glad that you've done that and you're asking me these questions.

But I also, Lynn, don't want to be

twisted into a narrative

that isn't the real narrative.

But what's so upsetting is that all of this stuff

has just overshadowed that.

It's very hard for people to remember that you did do good. Yeah.

That it was valuable work and that people were helped. Yeah, but...

I mean, that's what I feel upset and cross about.

Yeah, and I understand that,

and that is, you know,

the way that all this stuff has happened in the media

is an absolute betrayal

of the amazing work the staff did

and the courage of the children.

I suppose, I just worry that you've made it easy for them

in some respects. I don't...

I think you are...

You know, you are focusing...

You are, in some ways, behaving like them.

Camila remained unrepentant on all fronts.

After closure, she didn't stop working.

Her commitment to the kids was entirely unshaken.

She continued to do what she could to feed some of the families

with the help of a few loyal donors.

Come on, the children need to be served.

That's too much.

Come around here, come around here, please.

Many staff had trouble finding work.

The Kids Company brand had become toxic.

Others kept in touch with the clients

and helped out in any way they could.

How things change.

Your new specialism.

Yeah, putting pasta in plastic bags.

I'm quite good at it as it turns out.

Annie was now able to claim benefits

and she continued to volunteer,

helping the Kids Company family she loved.

I'm on egg duty this week.

I'm retired from doing boxes.

I'm doing eggs now.

The Local Authorities maintained they were picking up

the former Kids Company clients,

although it wasn't clear who or how many.

For Chesney, there was good news.

The school and other charities took care of her school fees

so she could continue boarding.

I feel like I've been given the gift of education

and I will use it to my full extent.

Even after closure, the quest for answers went on.

There were nine inquiries of one kind or another.

The BBC wanted to know if Alan Yentob had abused his position.

There had been repeated demands for his resignation,

and, in December, he finally resigned

his executive post at the BBC.

For months, I'd asked him to take part in this film,

but he'd always declined.

At the Parliamentary hearing,

he was seen for the first time at Camila's side.

They were in the dock together.

Was it really sensible to live such a hand-to-mouth existence?

There was not one... May I come in? I am asking Mr Yentob the question.

It's something that we brought up with Government. Order!

The inquiries painted a picture of a dysfunctional charity

and a staggering lack of Government scrutiny.

Kids Company was very well run for nearly 20 years.

But it closed!

In the end, the sex allegations

that had shut down Kids Company came to nothing.

The police investigation was closed.

But it seemed to me, there'd been serious errors of judgment.

Kids Company had grown too big.

And as the founder, Camila had spent 20 years doing things her own way.

But I also knew Camila had simply wanted to help more children,

bringing the love of a family to troubled lives.

Despite everything, she's determined to fight on.

Camila Batmanghelidjh may be down -

but she's not out.

ALL LAUGH