to think Camila Batmanghelidjh is fucking awesome?

[bejeezus]

I saw her talk on a news programme last night...

shes so composed and articulate, and clear-sighted and insightful and compassionate and calm and stylish and unique...

and the work she does/ what she acheives is OUTSTANDING..

heres a link to her wiki page...but it doesnt do her any justice

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camila_Batmanghelidjh

CB isn't a good example of either a champagne socialist or the PC Brigade as another poster boringly put it.

She is reactionary and a bit woo which fits in with David Cameron's and Steve Hilton's dreams of The Big Society where we farm social work and education out to charities and philanthropists and away from a state-funded and accountable public sector.

I agree with this writer that her theories are dangerous pseudoscience.

This was an interesting comment about black mothers that passed under the radar nearly 10 years ago

And she can't add up.

She is a colourful charismatic person that the government has used to pull the wool over the public's eyes so they won't make a fuss about massive welfare cuts.

tbh am a bit suspicious of the loss of a lot of cash under her steerage.

itsnothing I don't agree with you on your analysis of how government wants charities to work.

Ime all parts of government are well-aware of the differences between private, public and charity work. But the books always need to balance and the goal is to direct taxpayers money at the places where it will do the most good based on robust evidence and risk assessment.

Having received substantial support in respect of my DS/our family from teachers and NHS professionals, I have been overwhelmed by the level of expertise, compassion and skill that we have benefited from. It is not just charities run by high-profile public figures who dedicate themselves to helping children and families who are struggling.

IsItMeOr Both DH and I have worked for charities and I totally agree with you that there is some amazing work going on. But we were constantly being asked to 'massage' figures so that we can prove results and accountability even though the client group we supported could never be 'turned around' in that time frame.

I do believe that there is a real lack of understanding about how charities work with vulnerable people and families and the time and resourcing needed to be properly effective.

limitedperiodonly makes an excellent point.

She is clearly extremely charismatic, but being charismatic doesn't automatically mean she could efficiently run a multimillion pound organisation and deliver good outcomes. I guess the issue is that when there is limited money, it is important that it is spent wisely. Giving money to KC may have done less good than if it had been given to more efficiently run charities. I don't think anyone is doubting CB's commitment to her cause. They are doubting her ability to get good value for the public money that has been ploughed into KC.

I was wondering that too.
How opinions change over three years!

Does anyone know what she will do now?

Get married to Julien Assange ?

itsnothing that's not a problem limited to the charity sector - public sector would definitely recognise that!

There are lots of reasons why it happens, but I don't think it is a charity vs not charity issue at hear, iyswim?

limited thanks for the link to Peter Beresford's article, a very interesting perspective.

Limitedperiod, she claims to be black in the second article. Strange.

Over £30M from the Government, even Coldplay gave them £9M! All charities are accountable and have to jump through hoops with the Charity Commission, why didn't KC? I just feel uneasy that money was just doled out once a week to kids, surely that's not what it was all about.

Yes limited period it is very woo and the pseudo-neuroscience side of it has been most interesting to me.

Also though I'm depressed at how easily Dave Cameron seems to be taken in by these posh gurus - Steve Hilton had me and DH in stitches with the nonsense he spoke on Newsnight a wee while back. I fear DCameron would be in an "interesting" modern religion if either the Rev Moon or L Ron Hubbard had been of the right sort to go to boarding school.

CB has come across as well meaning but a bit of a "Disney Dad" style of philanthropist, doling out treats and cash - which is ok if funded by bankers / Coldplay but not central government imho.

If they need to send accountants in to sort out the mess, then do that. But don't close them down

No-one is closing them down. They are bankrupt and going into liquidation.

August Steve Hilton was on Andrew Neil's Sunday Politics with Labour's former head of communications just after the last election.

The Labour man was giving a good analysis of Labour's failure - and not shirking his part in it - while doing a good line in rueful humour.

Hilton was being an insufferable arsehole and telling him where he'd gone wrong when the occasion didn't call for it. It was astounding to watch. Like: 'This bloke has a good handle on where it went wrong, and may have tried to steer things away from the rocks and is being remarkably gracious while you are a rude intellectual pygmy in flip flops.'

If that was me, I'm not sure he would have left the studio alive.

I fear DCameron would be in an "interesting" modern religion if either the Rev Moon or L Ron Hubbard had been of the right sort to go to boarding school

Scientology has two front organisations, Criminon and Narconon, which purport to offer education and training to prisoners and drug addicts, respectively. Their shtick is precisely that of KC: here's all this special knowledge we have that will allow us to help the disadvantaged in ways you hidebound civil servants cannot possibly understand. The difference is that their "special knowledge" is more obviously bullshit, for reasons not only to do with its nature but also its origins, so they have to attempt to conceal their backers. But they're very good at it, and plenty of schools, prisons and other front-line services have been taken in.

Like others on the thread I work in the sector and have had huge distrust of her ability to manage the organisation for many many years. She once went to the press about how she'd mortgaged her house years and years ago to 'save' the charity. I thought then that if she just did what hundreds of other charities do, which is fundraise, evidence impact to the funders and keep the finances under control with proper systems to plan and review she wouldn't need to.

However, despite getting a lot from the government, celebs and corporates she feels that dealing with funding is beneath her. And now she is person pulling the plug at no notice, disrupting the lives of the kids and staff.

I have no doubt she is charismatic and driven. But the closure of the charity is a direct result of her inability to manage an organisation and to refuse to admit that over a number of years.

they're very good at it, and plenty of schools, prisons and other front-line services have been taken in.

What, you mean like A4E and its terribly charismatic leader Emma Harrison that Dave raved over and lavished money on until it all went tits up?

Cameron seems to be a remarkably poor judge of character. Look at his appointment of Andy Coulson and his friendship with Rebekah Wade, to name just two.

It's kind of Dickensian philanthropy. It's the sort of charity that the well-heeled understand and approve of. The service users are positioned as helpless child waifs, the benefactors as people prepared to cough up for someone who breaks all the rules to get the job done, dammit.

I wonder what the local authority could have done with that extra money from central government and the various banks and philanthropists who donated. Perhaps they would have spent it more wisely, helped more children, achieved better outcomes.

We will never know.

I think the charity probably helped many young people even for a short while.

But we don't know. That's the problem.

Errmm, isn't she a con artist?

hackmum Dave's character judgement always reminds me of

Did Dominic Cummins have anything to do with this?

Finding this thread very interesting, not adding anything as I don't know enough about KC, CB or the financial situation, but would rather get my info here than the daily fail