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(part 2) to think that Camila Batmanghelidgh must be lying when she says she has done nothing wrong in her spending of Kids' Company Funding?

635 replies

LuluJakey1 · 01/09/2015 17:34

She is like Jimmy Saville in that what she has been doing has been under all of all our noses and we have refused to speak up about it or believe it.

It is not just the luvvies who have been up close and personal with her- involved with the charity and CB at a very close level, some even Trustees. It is also the employees and the parents of children, the children themselves, the volunteers. We are not talking about a hidden mis-use of funding. We are talking aout a whole culture of open waste and self-indulgence.

I know it is from The Daily Mail but it is actually an interview with het.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3199527/My-heart-clear-says-Kids-Company-boss-Batmanghelidjh-admits-charity-paid-school-fees-employees-children-denies-wrongdoing.html

£5000 a month rent on an Art Deco House with private swimming pool - which houses a member of staff, and the swimming pool is used by CB but hot by any children- they are 'not allowed' (her words)

£40,000 chauffeur- now a specialist worker (according to CB). also has private school and therapist funding for his 2 children.

Staff( how many?) have their children sent to private schools because the job is stressful and it is part of a 'staff well-being package'

The Chauffeur's sister is also employed - now as a 'brilliant accountant', last summer as 'the woman who does my sewing' (mind you that would be a full-time job in itself, but it does imply the charity pays for those vile outfits much as I suspected)

25 young people given £769,000 a year funding - £31,000 a year each, to do nothing. They are CB's specially selected young people- many of whom have received funding for many years. She describes them as 'like a family, hanging round the house'. She deals with their funding herself.

Yet STILL CB complains staff should not have spoken up about any of this and implies those who have will suffer for it.

In my view this woman and her behaviours are corrupt, dishonest and immoral.

Are my views unreasonable? I feel this could be jus the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is yet to emerge and prosecutions will be very likely.

I think there should be a down- to the -bone, in-depth investigation of every aspect of the work of this charity and of CB. Not simply any concerns that have now been raised but a complete trawl of the spending, the practices and the behaviours of CB herself.

OP posts:
Clayhead · 17/11/2015 18:50

Those parliamentary broadcasts are fascinating - thanks for the link!

MrsJamin · 17/11/2015 18:57

I noticed the hash tag #kidscompany trending on twitter so had a look and saw there was the pacac being broadcast. I find then fascinating watching them in real time, unedited.

nortonhouse · 17/11/2015 19:15

When I searched parliamentlivetv for Kids Company today, I found another hearing from early November that I had missed as well....

MrsJamin · 17/11/2015 19:48

a very damning report from the pacac...

nortonhouse · 17/11/2015 19:52

Next instalment apparently scheduled for this Thursday 19 Nov at 9:45am....

nortonhouse · 17/11/2015 19:54

Thank you for this link, MrsJasmin - a thorough and damning report. The hearing today was quite confrontational I thought.

MrsJamin · 17/11/2015 20:17

The comparisons between KC's government funding and those received by national charities was sobering. Such a strong example of London bias from parliament. Would they have rushed to support a charity with millions in Whitley Bay for over a decade instead?

nortonhouse · 17/11/2015 20:33

Also interesting was the repeated implication (although none of the witnesses ever confirmed this outright) that people rolled over and kept sending more money KC's way because everyone understood that No. 10 supported them.

MrsJamin · 17/11/2015 20:46

Also, who knew that buzzfeed would start doing serious, important journalism?

VagueIdeas · 17/11/2015 20:47

I know! Until all this kicked off I thought Buzzfeed made clickbait lists for FB and Twitter and nothing else.

SweetCharityBeginsAtHome · 17/11/2015 21:03

Thanks for the links to the Pacac reports - will read later. That Streets Kitchen article is crap though. Kids' Company is the ultimate example of why you need to keep significant reserves rather than give everything away as soon as you get it, and in the case of CiN, they have the additional issue of commitments to 3 year grants. Of course they need to have huge reserves. And the comments below are a combination of tin hattery and total confusion.

stopfaffing · 18/11/2015 20:00

Just read the link, MrsJamin, it's certaining damning. I have posted a link on my fb page to.

CaveMum · 18/11/2015 21:09

BBC report from yesterday

Auntpodder · 18/11/2015 21:46

Oliver Letwin's in front of the committee tomorrow. gets popcorn

MrsJamin · 18/11/2015 22:07

Yeah I'm going to watch too. How's he going to justify passing the cap round parliament just to keep this oddball in charge of a failing, chaotic charity?

MegCleary · 19/11/2015 11:50

Letwin is interesting

Wolpertinger · 19/11/2015 11:55

Tim Loughton came across as impressive and knowing his stuff. Letwin is coming across as an arrogant fool. Of course Letwin is the one who is still a minister Angry

MissHooliesCardigan · 19/11/2015 12:16

Damn, I missed it. Did they mention Letwin and CB attending the same school?
My thoughts a few months ago were that CB was well meaning but completely incompetent. Now I think she's just a crook and a con artist.
I'm glad it's been pointed out that all the money that's been poured into paying private school fees and designer shoes is money that's effectively been taken from children and young people that really need it. It's basically theft. There are some amazing projects in Southwark that have closed or had their budget slashed. Young people are having to wait months to be seen by CAHMS. In the right hands, that money could have done so much good.
What's the betting that nobody in this whole debacle actually suffers any consequences? There will be some muttering about 'lessons being learned' and that will be the end of it. It's sickening.

Wolpertinger · 19/11/2015 12:21

Tone seems to have changed from her being well meaning but incompetent to her being a toxic blackmailing bully. The panel clearly loathe her with a passion.

Am still watching Oliver Letwin - yes they have discussed the Sherborne links.

nauticant · 19/11/2015 12:52

Did they mention Letwin and CB attending the same school?

I think the school connection is that Letwin is a governor of Sherborne Girls School which is the school Batmanghelidjh went to.

merrymouse · 19/11/2015 16:08

Mr Letwin said: "I had no basis for assuming that their financial governance was anything but reasonably OK."

This was after he had been told by civil servants that they shouldn't receive more funding.

On the one hand we have austerity and cuts to vital services. On the other hand if you can convince a government minister that you are "reasonably ok" at doing whatever it is you claim to do - even if that's running an alternative benefits system with cash and little brown envelopes - it's all fine.

Clutterbugsmum · 19/11/2015 18:50

Can anyone post a link to the debate today as I had to go to work and missed it,

MrsJamin · 19/11/2015 21:33

This BBC News article gives a reasonable summary, written by Christopher Cook who did a good commentary on twitter during the session with Letwin. He should be made to stand down, I'm convinced.

nortonhouse · 20/11/2015 09:57

Just now watching yesterday's hearing on parliament live.tv. Loughton is an angry man and an excellent, very interesting, very opinionated witness.

nortonhouse · 20/11/2015 09:59

clutterbug here you go: www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/635cf970-9e92-4e99-b1e7-bf8520cd7a4d

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