Some years ago , before the investigations, I made a generous donation to Kids Company and as a result was invited to a tea party with CB as the honoured guest (her not me!). I was very much pro the organisation initially, but after an afternoon of listening to CB and other speakers I completely changed my mind. Several hours of smug, and self congratulatory back patting made me realise that although the initial concept of supporting children and their families was sound, the way it was being realised was doing far more to massage the egos of a small and self selected coterie, including CB.
I felt that many initial good intentions seemed to have been lost, that there was almost a competitive “ see how far we can go before anyone says anything” attitude and that there was a distinct lack of future planning to sustain support for needy children.
I admit, and say again, this is my opinion , based on one short exposure, but I suspect that the speakers I heard felt they were among “friends” so were perhaps a bit more honest in expressing their ideas than they might have been in a more formal setting. I left feeling very disillusioned with the organisation, and was not unduly surprised at the later revelations.