| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP 00:07 - Jan 3 with 1469 views | factual_blue |
Fascinating life story |  |
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:14 - Jan 3 with 1286 views | DJR |
The following two passages from Wikipedia suggest their was something of a witch hunt against her and that the tarnishing of her reputation back in 2015 and 2016 was not really justified.
"In 2015, it was first reported that Kids Company was in significant financial difficulty due to unsubstantiated allegations. Kids Company received a £3 million government grant in July of that year but within ten minutes of the money transfer, allegations of sexual abuse emerged via Newsnight. The programme broadcast the allegations before the outcome of any police investigation, and the report led funders to withdraw grants.
In August 2015, the charity had a year's funding, including three months' reserves, and could meet all its liabilities. Mrs Justice Falk later confirmed that the charity would have survived if not for the unsubstantiated sexual abuse allegations, broadcast by Newsnight without being brought to the charity's attention or any professional bodies.
The Metropolitan Police cleared the charity of wrongdoing in early 2016 and commended its safeguarding practices."
"On 20 October 2020, the Official Receiver opened a case at the High Court against former directors of Kids Company, including seeking a six-year disqualification from holding company directorships for Ms Batmanghelidjh, and four years for Alan Yentob.even though she was chief executive and not a director. On 12 February 2021, the High Court dismissed the case against Batmanghelidjh and the other trustees. Mrs Justice Falk in the High Court said: "Most charities would, I think, be delighted to have available to them individuals with the abilities and experience that the trustees in this case possess. It is vital that the actions of public bodies do not have the effect of dissuading able and experienced individuals from becoming or remaining charity trustees." The judge spoke of Batmanghelidjh's "enormous dedication [that] she showed to vulnerable young people over many years" and her achievements, adding, "It would be unfortunate if the events the focus of this decision were allowed to eclipse those achievements." [Post edited 3 Jan 2024 8:15]
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:25 - Jan 3 with 1251 views | Zx1988 |
It was interesting to read the obituary, and discover that she had been completely exonerated of all of the charges and accusations levelled against her back in the mid-2010s.
It seems to me that she must have stepped on the wrong toes somewhere along the lines, and deserved much more of an apology and setting straight of the record than she seemingly got. |  |
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:49 - Jan 3 with 1197 views | Steve_M |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:14 - Jan 3 by DJR |
The following two passages from Wikipedia suggest their was something of a witch hunt against her and that the tarnishing of her reputation back in 2015 and 2016 was not really justified.
"In 2015, it was first reported that Kids Company was in significant financial difficulty due to unsubstantiated allegations. Kids Company received a £3 million government grant in July of that year but within ten minutes of the money transfer, allegations of sexual abuse emerged via Newsnight. The programme broadcast the allegations before the outcome of any police investigation, and the report led funders to withdraw grants.
In August 2015, the charity had a year's funding, including three months' reserves, and could meet all its liabilities. Mrs Justice Falk later confirmed that the charity would have survived if not for the unsubstantiated sexual abuse allegations, broadcast by Newsnight without being brought to the charity's attention or any professional bodies.
The Metropolitan Police cleared the charity of wrongdoing in early 2016 and commended its safeguarding practices."
"On 20 October 2020, the Official Receiver opened a case at the High Court against former directors of Kids Company, including seeking a six-year disqualification from holding company directorships for Ms Batmanghelidjh, and four years for Alan Yentob.even though she was chief executive and not a director. On 12 February 2021, the High Court dismissed the case against Batmanghelidjh and the other trustees. Mrs Justice Falk in the High Court said: "Most charities would, I think, be delighted to have available to them individuals with the abilities and experience that the trustees in this case possess. It is vital that the actions of public bodies do not have the effect of dissuading able and experienced individuals from becoming or remaining charity trustees." The judge spoke of Batmanghelidjh's "enormous dedication [that] she showed to vulnerable young people over many years" and her achievements, adding, "It would be unfortunate if the events the focus of this decision were allowed to eclipse those achievements." [Post edited 3 Jan 2024 8:15]
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No, not a witchhunt. The charity was a basketcase and should never have received the public finds it did (but then Cameron was all for chucking a few million around for publicity despite swinging cuts elsewhere).
Chris Cook was excellent on this at the time:
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:56 - Jan 3 with 1163 views | Zx1988 |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:49 - Jan 3 by Steve_M |
No, not a witchhunt. The charity was a basketcase and should never have received the public finds it did (but then Cameron was all for chucking a few million around for publicity despite swinging cuts elsewhere).
Chris Cook was excellent on this at the time:
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Christ.
The kind of person who can come out, so soon after the death, with something along the lines of: "Condolences to the family, but..."
As the BBC obituary states, all of the charges/accusations from 2015 were either unproven or overturned, and the judge that overturned the directorship ban in 2021 stated that the charity may well have survived but for the allegations of criminality. [Post edited 3 Jan 2024 9:03]
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 09:02 - Jan 3 with 1137 views | DJR |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 08:49 - Jan 3 by Steve_M |
No, not a witchhunt. The charity was a basketcase and should never have received the public finds it did (but then Cameron was all for chucking a few million around for publicity despite swinging cuts elsewhere).
Chris Cook was excellent on this at the time:
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Hardly her fault if Cameron was so keen to splash the cash, but it mustn't be forgotten that Alan Yentob and others were involved.
I imagine Cook has his reputation to maintain, but posting this at such a time is in very bad taste, and the third part of the Tweet, when read with the rest, is a bit like saying in a card "sorry for your loss but she was a wrong'un". [Post edited 3 Jan 2024 9:04]
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 11:08 - Jan 3 with 962 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 09:02 - Jan 3 by DJR |
Hardly her fault if Cameron was so keen to splash the cash, but it mustn't be forgotten that Alan Yentob and others were involved.
I imagine Cook has his reputation to maintain, but posting this at such a time is in very bad taste, and the third part of the Tweet, when read with the rest, is a bit like saying in a card "sorry for your loss but she was a wrong'un". [Post edited 3 Jan 2024 9:04]
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I would imagine that Cook isn't too keen on a complete victim narrative prevailing, leading to a whitewash of what was a very complex case.
A few points:
1. Camila Batmanghelidjh was absolutely passionate about, and dedicated to, improving the life chances of children and young people, and especially those who had a relatively disadvantaged start in life.
2. Camila Batmanghelidjh and Kids Company were investigated for Safeguarding Failures, around protecting children and young people from external sources of harm.
3. Some newspapers/media sources at the time were flexible in their use of language and gave the impression that Kids Company itself was a source of sexual harm to children and young people.
4. Camila Batmanghelidjh had a huge amount of charisma and ability to influence others to action. She had a "personal brand" before many others did. The only equivalents I can think of in the social care for children and young people sector from the last 40 years are Esther Rantzen, with Childline, and Steve Chalke, with Oasis Trust. Rantzen was a prominent TV presenter who set up a charity. Chalke had a route via high prominence in UK Evangelical Christian circles, into TV work, alongside his charity work.
Camila Batmanghelidjh worked from the ground up, without these advantages, and her charisma, and distinctive personal brand, were extremely strong factors in the growth of Kids Society.
5. From early days there were some who questioned the "cult of personality" around Batmanghelidjh. Women, especially non-White women, often are questioned if they are perceived as "attention seeking" or "too loud" or, let's be honest, it's all just code for "not knowing their place".
This is taking too long! Got to do other stuff. To be brief there is a huge political context which meant that
Camila Batmanghelidjh was attacked from both the Right and Left:
6. Post-2007 crash financial reality for charities
7. 2012 Olympics funding reality for charities (National Lottery funding diverted for 5 years to 2012, at same time as crash and recession).
7. Introduction of contract culture for charity services, reaching height with Cameron's Big Society. Encouraged charities to bid and seek to expand, but also put other charities at risk and caused resentment.
8. Gove et als attacks on Local Government as sources of "cultural Marxism", squeeze on funding for Local Government. Collapse of all "non-statutory" Local Government provision (there was barely enough money to do what had to be done by law by Councils, so many "good things" that Councils did were cut, including Youth Work provision.
9. Loss of experienced workers from sector.
10. Resentment/criticism towards charities filling in the gaps in provision from many on the Left.
11. Rapid expansion of Kids Company. Dependence of Kids Company on Camila Batmanghelidjh's personal brand, and Kids Company's "we are inarguably the good guys" image to acquire funding.
12. Recruitment of many new workers to deliver Kids Company projects. Probably grew to fast and had inexperienced people in some positions who didn't respond appropriately to the safeguarding issues highlighted by media.
13. Kids Company image (and therefore sources of charitable funding) at risk because of scandal.
14. Kids Company had become too prominent, too much the face of "Big Society" to fail, Government cash injection. This was highly irregular, and caused huge shockwaves in charitable sector in which many charities were struggling due to post-2007 crash and 2012 Olympics financial realities (greater need, less income).
15. As mentioned above, media reporting which insinuated a sexual abuse scandal centred on Kids Company, rather than a failure of (possibly inexperienced) Youth Workers in a dynamic, positivity-fueled, environment to respond properly to Child Sexual Exploitation by dangerous gangs. Always accompanied by video or photos of Camila Batmanghelidjh in her colourful clothing, right alongside the "charity sexual abuse scandal" headline, which left a certain impression.
TL:DR the collapse of Kids Company was a product of many factors.
My opinion: The Trustees embraced Camila Batmanghelidjh's belief that no child in London should be left behind and failed to exercise sufficient caution that, in an incredibly difficult fundraising environment for charities, there could be limits to her ability to raise funds, or that rapid expansion would leave inexperienced teams working with incredibly difficult cases.
For anyone standing in judgement on Camila Batmanghelidjh, I would ask this question:
What would you do if a 15 year old girl disclosed to you that she was being sexually exploited by members of the local drug dealing gang, and wanted you to support her, but she clearly stated that she didn't want you to go to the Police because they had threatened to kill her Mum or rape her younger sister if she told the Police?
The law in 2015 said you had to go to the Police. But that would destroy all trust in the relationships the youth work project had built up.
None of this stuff is easy.
She was a good person who wanted to help every child, and others should have enabled the charity to grow more steadily. | | | |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 12:48 - Jan 3 with 858 views | DJR |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh RIP on 11:08 - Jan 3 by ArnoldMoorhen |
I would imagine that Cook isn't too keen on a complete victim narrative prevailing, leading to a whitewash of what was a very complex case.
A few points:
1. Camila Batmanghelidjh was absolutely passionate about, and dedicated to, improving the life chances of children and young people, and especially those who had a relatively disadvantaged start in life.
2. Camila Batmanghelidjh and Kids Company were investigated for Safeguarding Failures, around protecting children and young people from external sources of harm.
3. Some newspapers/media sources at the time were flexible in their use of language and gave the impression that Kids Company itself was a source of sexual harm to children and young people.
4. Camila Batmanghelidjh had a huge amount of charisma and ability to influence others to action. She had a "personal brand" before many others did. The only equivalents I can think of in the social care for children and young people sector from the last 40 years are Esther Rantzen, with Childline, and Steve Chalke, with Oasis Trust. Rantzen was a prominent TV presenter who set up a charity. Chalke had a route via high prominence in UK Evangelical Christian circles, into TV work, alongside his charity work.
Camila Batmanghelidjh worked from the ground up, without these advantages, and her charisma, and distinctive personal brand, were extremely strong factors in the growth of Kids Society.
5. From early days there were some who questioned the "cult of personality" around Batmanghelidjh. Women, especially non-White women, often are questioned if they are perceived as "attention seeking" or "too loud" or, let's be honest, it's all just code for "not knowing their place".
This is taking too long! Got to do other stuff. To be brief there is a huge political context which meant that
Camila Batmanghelidjh was attacked from both the Right and Left:
6. Post-2007 crash financial reality for charities
7. 2012 Olympics funding reality for charities (National Lottery funding diverted for 5 years to 2012, at same time as crash and recession).
7. Introduction of contract culture for charity services, reaching height with Cameron's Big Society. Encouraged charities to bid and seek to expand, but also put other charities at risk and caused resentment.
8. Gove et als attacks on Local Government as sources of "cultural Marxism", squeeze on funding for Local Government. Collapse of all "non-statutory" Local Government provision (there was barely enough money to do what had to be done by law by Councils, so many "good things" that Councils did were cut, including Youth Work provision.
9. Loss of experienced workers from sector.
10. Resentment/criticism towards charities filling in the gaps in provision from many on the Left.
11. Rapid expansion of Kids Company. Dependence of Kids Company on Camila Batmanghelidjh's personal brand, and Kids Company's "we are inarguably the good guys" image to acquire funding.
12. Recruitment of many new workers to deliver Kids Company projects. Probably grew to fast and had inexperienced people in some positions who didn't respond appropriately to the safeguarding issues highlighted by media.
13. Kids Company image (and therefore sources of charitable funding) at risk because of scandal.
14. Kids Company had become too prominent, too much the face of "Big Society" to fail, Government cash injection. This was highly irregular, and caused huge shockwaves in charitable sector in which many charities were struggling due to post-2007 crash and 2012 Olympics financial realities (greater need, less income).
15. As mentioned above, media reporting which insinuated a sexual abuse scandal centred on Kids Company, rather than a failure of (possibly inexperienced) Youth Workers in a dynamic, positivity-fueled, environment to respond properly to Child Sexual Exploitation by dangerous gangs. Always accompanied by video or photos of Camila Batmanghelidjh in her colourful clothing, right alongside the "charity sexual abuse scandal" headline, which left a certain impression.
TL:DR the collapse of Kids Company was a product of many factors.
My opinion: The Trustees embraced Camila Batmanghelidjh's belief that no child in London should be left behind and failed to exercise sufficient caution that, in an incredibly difficult fundraising environment for charities, there could be limits to her ability to raise funds, or that rapid expansion would leave inexperienced teams working with incredibly difficult cases.
For anyone standing in judgement on Camila Batmanghelidjh, I would ask this question:
What would you do if a 15 year old girl disclosed to you that she was being sexually exploited by members of the local drug dealing gang, and wanted you to support her, but she clearly stated that she didn't want you to go to the Police because they had threatened to kill her Mum or rape her younger sister if she told the Police?
The law in 2015 said you had to go to the Police. But that would destroy all trust in the relationships the youth work project had built up.
None of this stuff is easy.
She was a good person who wanted to help every child, and others should have enabled the charity to grow more steadily. |
You obviously know more about the case than I do, but I would make a couple of observations.
1. I was not aware of the left attacking her, as opposed to the Big Society. But my recollection is that the right wing press happily piled in on a non-white women.
2. The following opening words of the article that Cook links in his Tweet, with their reference to "spiels", "shtick" and "boilerplate" are not the sort of objective journalism one would expect of the BBC, and to my mind come across as character assassination.
"Part of Camila Batmangelidjh's talent as a charity leader was that she worked up polished spiels that she could deploy to impress donors. She always had a well-turned anecdote to answer any claim or criticism. Her new book - "Kids" - is a transcription of the shtick, as it now stands, two years after the collapse of "Kids Company", the charity she founded and ran.
The book is boilerplate Batmangelidjh."
Having said that (and I know this because I have on one occasion complained about BBC online political content), the BBC is the sole judge and jury on complaints against such content because, unlike its TV and radio content, there is no appeal to Ofcom. The BBC obviously knows this, so sails closer to the wind (when it comes to objectivity) with its online content than its other output, relying on the fact that people are unlikely to sue. [Post edited 3 Jan 2024 13:20]
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