Alan Yentob, chair of Kids Company, has admitted that the charity made mistakes but defended the motives of its founder and chief executive, Camila Batmanghelidjh.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, Yentob said that criticism of the charity had been “unfair” but admitted that the charity had overstretched itself.
“Our expansion to Bristol was probably a bridge too far. We took on too much. Camila always took the view that because of the nature of our caseload the government should eventually fund it, but the government saw their funding as an interim measure and that’s where frustration on both sides set in,” he said.
The charity recently appointed four high-profile supporters to the board and one of them, Stuart Roden, will take over as chair although Yentob will remain on the board.
Yentob said that it was “probably a mistake to live hand to mouth with no reserves” and that in future the charity plans to have at least £3m in reserves.
“It will entail a new model. That’s why bringing in new trustees is so important,” he said.
“The government have said there will be no more government money, we need a debate on how to support the kind of children who the statutory care system cannot accommodate and who come to Kids Company.”
Referring to letters published this week, which revealed that the Cabinet Office ministers overruled advice from their top civil servant not to award Kids Company £3m earlier this year, Yentob said it was a “crass and simplistic” viewpoint from civil servants who had “never even visited Kids Company”.
“If ministers turn down the advice of the civil servants, it must be for good reason,” he said.
“The most important thing was to get the £3m for the kids. This is a turning point. I want this to be a rallying cry for donors to come back and support Kids Company.”
Yentob added that: “There was no financial mismanagement. Our books have been audited and we passed every audit with no concerns raised. What we have is a shortage of funds, which arises because children self-refer and our policy has been that no child should be turned away.
“You could say it’s an unstainable policy, but it’s been sustainable for 18 years. There is no doubt in my mind that Camila has been unfairly vilified.”
“The gossip and innuendo that she has had to deal with have been horrendous. People forget that Camila raised £150m in 18 years, and that our holistic model is embraced as the best therapeutic model by the likes of University College London, LSE and Cambridge. Camila is asked to give 120 lectures per year. What we do is supported by cutting-edge brain science.”
