'Stacey was discovered feeding her four brothers and sisters out of dustbins', explains Camila Batmanghelidjh, the cheerful Iranian-born mother figure who runs Kids Company-a drop-in centre for neglected children such as Stacey, who are not officially in state care but still suffer appaling problems.

'Her parents are drug addicts', Camila 36 adds. 'Stacey's father took her on a burglary, but he was caught by the police. When he was sent to prison, she was forced into prostitution to pay for her mother's heroin habit.'

Most of the children who bring themselves to the lively Kids Company meeting house come for things as day-to-day as food, hot water and warmth in the rooms tucked under a railway arch. Nearly all have similar background to Stacey and, if some of them need to call Camila Mum, she is certainly not arguing.


Camila Batmanghelidjh

In the capital of one of the world's richest countries it seems amazing that so many youngsters roam hungry and cold because their parents are either too sick, too drugged or too poor to look after them. Many know no other home than a bleak flat where their mum's sold off the furniture for her next fix and there are at least 200 kids existing like this in just the 10-mile radius around Kids Company

Sadly the social services are not always able to help as they often do not hear about a child's case or they do not believe them to be at risk from direct sexual or physical abuse-the prime reason for putting a child in care. But Camila hears and, in 1996, on her own, using all money she should have used to pay off her mortgage repayments, she set up her unique charity. It had an immediate effect. The word must have spread among local boys and a group turned up with bricks in their hands, Camila recalls. They smashed the windows and ripped everything up, but I did not get angry or retaliate.

Camila, a child psychotherapist has been helping others from an early age. I come from a rich family in Iran, she explains. As a small child I could not understand why the maid and her seven children lived in one room, so I donated my toys and stole food for them.

When Camils's family later settled in Britain, she continued to help children. She linked up with social services offering drop-in sessions at schools for kids with emotional problems, but sensed it was not enough. So many needed a whole package, from proper meals to therapy, Camila says. Too many falling through the net. They needed someone to fight on their behalf. Camila who has a partner but no children, says, I could either have children of my own or look after the ones whose parents are unable to.

Her decision is to devote all her time to the centre. She built a 35 strong team including teachers, social workers as well as many volunteers. She has also got Topshop to give clothes and shoes while disney contributes toys.

Camila and her helpers get no government support and rely on trusts, donations and fundraising to find the £1 million running costs.

Donations for Kids Company should be sent to Arch 259, Grosvenor Court, Grosvenor Terrace, London SE5 0NP.

Tuesday July 17 2001

Camberwell's Kids Company is heading for a massive payday as an average ONE MILLION people vote each week to evict one of the housemates.

Of the 25p each phone call costs, 5p goes to charity with money being split three ways between Kids Company, Shelter and Self Build, another homeless charity.

A Big Brother spokeswoman said the number of phone votes reached a peak of 1.5 million the week Amma was voted out and this figure is expected to be exceeded in the final few weeks.

If so, Kids Company could get in the region of £200,000 from the game show.

That's despite the fact that Kids Company's very future is on the line.

Last September, it was refused planning permission by Southwark council which, despite promises to the contrary, has still failed to find another suitable venue.

Kids Company, in Grosvenor Terrace, whose outstanding work with youngsters is well documented, offers everything from food and clothing to counselling for around 200 young people from challenging backgrounds.

It also educates around 30 youngsters who have been permanently excluded from school.

Camila Batmanghelidjh, the psychotherapist who founded the charity, said it was 'absolutely fantastic' that Kids Company had been chosen by Big Brother.

And she tried to remain positive about being able to continue, despite fears that the charity may be forced to shut down for lack of a home.

She said: "The money will be going towards improving our educational provision for children with special needs and the free meals we provide.

''Research by the National Children's Bureau shows 200 kids a week are using our meals.''

Camila is also planning a series of summer events for the children including adventure trips to the Isle of Wight.

And she hopes Southwark will over-turn its decision to refuse planning permission when the charity appeals at a hearing scheduled for October 23.

This would mean Kids Company could stay at its current location in railway arches donated rent free four years ago by Spacia - the property arm of Railtrack.

The death of 10- year old Damilola Taylor in one of the most notorious crime spots in London Peckham, has shocked the nation. A place where is making every effort to change things in Peckham is the 'Kids Company', but the local council wants to close it down.

Camila Batmanghelidjh, an extraordinary Persian woman in her thirties from West Hampstead daily to run the project. In November 1999 she attended the BIBA Women Forum to celebrate the success and achievements of British-Iranian women. She opened the 'Kids Company' in 1996. On the day of opening gangs of angry youths turned up. Instead of backing off she was courteous and not retaliating she eventually won them over and the original rebellious boys intending to destroy the centre at the end started giving Camila presents. She said,

''Tell us what you'd like us to do for you'' - hence pool tables, computers, drama groups, art room, library.

A centre under the railway arches a mile from the Oliver Goldsmith Primary school where Damilola attended is for vulnerable children, most of who are from exceptionally deprived background and some with criminal records. It offers supports to thousands of young people left out and have had lack of care. Outside in the streets of Peckham there are all sorts of gangs but inside the arches there is peace and calm. Rooms are brightly painted, with sports equipment and computers and a newly donated piano. Here at this centre only a month ago a 17-year-old boy managed to write a sentence for the first time. The distinctive spirit of 'Kids Company' is to make all the children feel welcome, no matter how excluded, punished or disturbed they feel.

The 'Kids Company' provides these children with care and security. Last year 48 children had their Christmas lunch in the 'Kids Company' and this year too Camila wants to raise enough money to accommodate these children.

The Government should fund people to spend time with these children and give them the affection they are deprived of. Its all very well to destroy the estates in Peckham and build new houses, but these children need programmes like the ones at 'Kids Company' to make them feel that someone is pleased to see them.

Every day up to 200 young people are given instructions, amusements and three meals at the 'Kids Company'. Some have been excluded from schools, others have excluded themselves and have lived in the streets and come from homes where benefit money goes on drink and drugs and parenting is non-existent.

As a practising psychotherapist, Camila works on the front line in child mental health. The Department of Health has commended her work. Her pioneering work is a popular topic with education section of national newspapers in the UK. On 15th of March 2000, a documentary prepared by Rudy Wax on 'Kids Company' was broadcaster on BBC2. Last year with the help of a group of professional West End performers, musicians and the children from ‘Kids Company', Camila directed a musical documentary called 'kids Need Friends', based on the life of story of one of the young people of the centre at kids Company. Camila's academic achievements include First Class Honour degree in Fin Arts, Performing Arts and Master Degree in Psychotherapy. She started to become interested in psychotherapy from a young age. Whilst growing up in her families big mansion she became more and more preoccupied with the well being and poor circumstances of their maids and servants and people in general with little money.

These children are disconnected from other people. The way they survive is to shut down their feelings in order not to experience their own pain. But the result is that they lose the capacity to sense and understand. These children imagine other people to be equally emotion-less. In this detached state of mind you can do harm without anxiety or remorse and cause crime such as the murder of Damilola. And this is what Camila tries to rectify by picking out the most vulnerable children from schools and working on them over the holidays at the 'Kids Company.'

Camila has a profound love for what she does for these children and has faith in that it is not what you do in life or how academically well you do that is important, what is essential is where your attachments are and sharing-rather than giving what you have spare. With the 'Kids Company' she shows emotional commitment and genuine care.

Monday July 23, 2001

It is 4pm on a hot, sticky summer afternoon in south-east London, and Michael, aged 11, is swigging from a tin of orange pop on his doorstep. He is on his way out to see Camila at Kids Company, a youth centre under the arches at the end of his road.

''Camila is his second mum,'' says Margaret, his first mother, a single parent who suffers from depression and never leaves the house. ''Keeps him off the streets, Camila does.'' Michael has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and can't sit still. ''He was up on the roof of the fire station at Peckham not so long ago. Even the firemen couldn't reach him. Had to have him hosed off,'' says Margaret.

Kids Company is a therapeutic youth club serving the most alienated children and teenagers in south-east London. It is run by Camila Batmanghelidjh, a child psychotherapist who has drawn kids in from the street corners and walkways in the area.

In the wake of Damilola Taylor's murder in nearby Peckham, Kids Company won widespread attention as one of the few facilities able to reach out to the poorest, most needy children, and to those most at risk of joining the growing number of street gangs. Camila provides one-to-one teaching for 29 children with special needs, and draws about 200 children from one of London's poorest wards to her after-school club, providing them with the only evening meal many are likely to get. She has won support for the club from Prince Charles and secured backing from donors such as the investment bank Goldman Sachs.

But a small group of 13 objectors, who live nearby, want Camila out. ''They're like a pack of bloody wild animals,'' says Julian Beardsley, at Happy Bikes. Betty Boynton, treasurer of Southwark Pensioners' Action Group, never walks near Kids Company without a rape alarm in her hand. These neighbours talk about their rights as ratepayers, taxpayers and pensioners. Southwark Council has bowed to the pressure and issued a closure order.

It was dark when I first visited the club, just off the Walworth Road. Had I not known it was a kids' club, I might have crossed over when I saw the tall shadows, hoods up, hanging around outside the metal gates. There were kids everywhere, coming in and out, yelping. They were making Hallowe'en masks. I could see children sitting in front of lumps of clay, sculpting out shapes.

A woman appeared in a purple gown and black headdress, trailing a line of children and teenagers, all competing for her attention. ''You haven't forgotten my birthday, have you, Camila?'' pleaded one six-foot black kid in baggy jeans and trainers, catching at her robes.

Jo, a 12-year-old who is dyslexic and dyspraxic, was asked to make me a cup of tea. Sitting under the blue painted dolphins outside Camila's office, the kids told me why they liked it here. ''I didn't go to school. I thought I was a bad boy,'' said one 16-year-old, excluded from Archbishop Michael Ramsey secondary school and now hoping to study information technology at Lambeth College. ''I didn't bother to learn nothing. Didn't care about nothing then. But Camila's a very understanding lady, see. You can trust her.''

Dwane, 15, said: ''Camila just says she wanted to help me. Nobody ever said that to me before. Don't get me wrong, she can be horrible to us. But she's soft underneath. She helps you break away from the street.'' Sitting under the scarlet drapes in her office, Camila explains that the kids come to her because they don't think anybody else cares. In many cases parents have effectively abandoned them. ''The usual pattern is for a kid to be living with a single parent, usually a mother, who is a drug addict, an alcoholic, or has other problems of his or her own - someone who has not got time for their own child. And who certainly cannot speak up for them.''

The idea behind Kids Company was to establish a sanctuary where the kids would come to of their own accord. So it had to be close to the streets the kids knew. A cab driver told Camila about the arches off the Walworth Road. ''The arches were disgusting when we first moved in. But the kids helped clean everything up and decorate, so now they feel it's theirs,'' says Camila. She never thought to apply for planning permission.

The daughter of a wealthy Iranian businessman and a Belgian aristocrat, she was educated at Sherborne public school and Warwick University, where she studied art and design. She was badly dyslexic, which has helped her understand some of these kids. ''I know how it feels when they can't tie their shoe laces,'' she says. ''I don't get impatient with them and I can explain.''

A body pounds into the partition wall. Camila calls through the door for order. ''They come here sometimes with a lot of aggression,'' she explains. '' Sometimes very cold; very lethal. But I have an immense capacity to love. And I know how to mould them.''

One of the kids, Carl, is back and wants to ask her something in private. She goes off and comes back, saying he wanted some birthday money to buy a cadet uniform for army training at a centre down the road. The kids all get birthday money, she explains. In some cases, there is nobody else to remember their birthdays. And they also get rewards for good behaviour; points for cleaning or washing up, which they can cash in for trainers or T-shirts and sometimes for mobile phones. It's not bribery, says Camila. Just a way of exerting leverage over them (although I'm not sure there's a difference). ''And they don't get rewards from anyone else in life.''

''DO I look like a yuppy?'' asks Betty Boynton of Southwark Pensioners' Action Group and the Grosvenor Estate Residents' Association, a pensioner on income support. The grapes in the bowl on the kitchen table are shrivelled hard. The bananas are black. The wallpaper is nicotine brown.

Betty is holding up a newspaper cutting in which Camila is quoted as saying that the campaign to close down Kids Company is run by ''middle- class nimbys'' who want to gentrify the area. ''We are solid working class,'' says Betty.

It's not that the protesters don't want to help the disadvantaged, they insist. The estate has been packed with needy groups - among them, a drug rehabilitation centre, two homes for people with severe learning disabilities, as well as sheltered housing for the elderly.

And it's not about being racist. Mutiatu Balkogun, whose garden backs on to Kids Company, was rehoused after racist attacks on her family in nearby Bermondsey. ''Camila's kids smoke weed on my front door. They throw garbage in my garden. They scare my daughter. I am going to sue the council.''

And it's not that the residents' association doesn't have sympathy for the kids. Martin Winter was once a delinquent himself, and was sent to a special children's centre run by a charity. ''When I was at school, I had some problems. I was expelled and always in trouble with the teachers.''

Kay Bettinelli, chair of the association, is a governor at Archbishop Ramsey's, so she deals with discipline issues all the time. What kid wouldn't go to a club which offered them free gifts, she asks?

Happy Bikes get teenagers along every day, but the last time Camila's kids rampaged through they knocked over a barrel of oil. ''Did she make them clear it up? Did she hell.'' There is inevitably an element of nimbyism, even if it is a ''solid working-class'' version. ''Most people would say that these kids had never had a chance in life,'' says Betty Boynton. ''But why should Camila have her kids here?''

For all the reasons the kids love Camila, the protesters against Kids Company dislike her. She is an outsider, for one thing: ''She doesn't have to live around here.'' She bucks the system: ''Why didn't she get planning permission?''

But do any of the allegations against her kids stand up? The local ward councillor, David Noakes, gathered a list of complaints to support the closure decision. But he produced not a shred of evidence - not even for the alleged theft of a bag of chips. Did Happy Bikes call the police when boys rampaged like wild animals? No. Did the police investigate the muggings, the drug-dealing, or any of the other claims levelled against the kids? Apparently not.

PC David Tucci, the home beat officer who wrote a letter supporting the refusal of planning permission, said the residents felt ''intimidated''. But has PC Tucci ever arrested or charged anyone from Kids Company? ''No.'' Camila says she invited him to meet the kids, but he didn't come.

Camila insists the only two crimes anyone has come to her about were the theft of a Walkman, which she ensured was returned, and a broken window, which she ensured was mended.

According to senior police officers, clubs like Kids Company are an invaluable resource in the fight against teenage crime, which in south-east London is spiralling out of control. According to Carl Murray, head of Southwark Council's own youth service, the club should remain open because it is helping the youngsters to give up crime, and the borough has no other faci