It has been reported that Kids Company could be closing their services this evening.
The charity, which was set up by Camila Batmanghelidjh in 1996, received a £3 million rescue package from the Cabinet Office last week. Camila Batmanghelidjh had to stand down last week in order to receive the funding.
Newsnight and BuzzFeed News reported that Kids Company used some of this £3 million grant to pay overdue staff wages. This is believed to be against the terms of the rescue package, which was not supposed to be spent on day-to-day running costs.
The charity said that their closure is “both dangerous and irresponsible and places the children we support at great risk”. Local authorities have reportedly been making plans to care for young people if Kids Company closes.
BBC reports that Camila said in an email last week: “Everything has been agreed, we are going ahead with payroll. It will be done ... as soon as the money hits our account. I am so sorry that the machinery of Whitehall was slower than we would have liked.”
Last week the police investigated serious allegations. Kids Company responded with a statement on their website which reads: “In the last 19 years there have been no child protection rulings that have found us falling short of safeguarding the people in our care. If we had been aware of sexual assaults taking place on our premises we would have reported these to the police and the local safeguarding board."