It was announced that Kids Company charity founder and social justice campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh died – on her birthday - having been ill for some time.
Having started the charity in 1996 in south London, to provide support to up to 36,000 deprived and vulnerable inner-city children and young people, in 2015 she stepped down amid allegations of mismanagement - but a High Court cleared her of wrongdoing. Ms Batmanghelidjh was said to have spent her last Christmas at home wrapping presents for vulnerable children.
Born into a wealthy family in Iran, she arrived in England aged 12, speaking little English, and went on to gain a first-class degree from Warwick University. After training as a psychotherapist, she founded Kids Company in 1996 and was its chief executive for 19 years.
The charity sought to provide support to deprived children from low-income families, and grew to drop-in centres across London, as well as in Bristol and Liverpool. In 2015, she stepped down after Kids Company ran into financial difficulties.
The charity shut down in August that year, after the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into sexual assault allegations, following the television broadcast of a report. Subsequent police investigations found no evidence of criminality or safeguarding failures.
In 2021, Ms Batmanghelidjh and six others won their High Court battle against disqualification from being directors of other organisations. She was appointed CBE and listed among the UK's most powerful women.
At the height of her fame, she rubbed shoulders with politicians on both sides of the divide and had celebrity supporters. However, the Charity Commission later ruled it had been mismanaged - although it said that there was no dishonesty, bad faith, or inappropriate gain in the operation of the charity.
The charity Brixton Soup Kitchen said she had "donated over 100 Christmas gifts last week to less fortunate kids".
She was 61.
