February 2, 2024
Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder of the Kids Company charity in Great Britain whose career was upended amid unproven charges of mismanagement a few years ago, has died at age 61.
The Iranian-born social justice campaigner, founded Kids Company in 1996 to support vulnerable children and young people in London and Bristol.
She died January 1 her 61st birthday after suffering from an illness for some time.
She is said to have spent her last Christmas wrapping presents for vulnerable children.
A family statement said she died “peacefully in her sleep.” It described her as an “endless source of inspiration” who “dedicated her life to advocating for Britain’s most vulnerable children.”
Batmanghelidjh was born into a wealthy family in Iran and moved to England when she was 12. She gained a first-class degree from Warwick University.
She founded her charity in 1996 after training as a psychotherapist. She stepped down from her charity in 2015 following allegations of mismanagement. However, she was cleared of wrongdoing by a High Court later that year.
The charity was wrapped in scandal after police launched an investigation, which absolved her seven months later, into allegations of abuse and exploitation, following the broadcast of a BBC report.
Prior to the scandal, the charity attracted a number of celebrity backers including Prime Minister David Cameron, Coldplay, artist Damien Hirst and comedian Michael McIntyre—and Batmanghelidjh was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her charitable work.
In 2021, a bid to ban Batmanghelidjh and seven ex-trustees from being company directors was rejected by a High Court judge.
In 2022, the Charity Commission published a report concluding the charity had been mismanaged, claiming it operated under a “high risk business model.” Later that year, Batman-ghelidjh won a High Court bid to pursue a judicial review of the report.
