Tamasin Perkins and Lydia Kember write for Charity Finance on the collapse of Kids Company
The decade-long fallout into the collapse of Kids Company (the Charity – registered in England and Wales under the name Keeping Kids Company) is a step closer to concluding.
Kids Company was founded in 1996 by Camila Batmanghelidjh. It existed to provide practical, emotional and educational support to children and young adults. It supported c.36,000 children and reportedly received £42 million in government funding.
The Charity Commission published a damning report of the Charity following its statutory inquiry into Kids Company’s 2015 collapse. In an unprecedent step, Batmanghelidjh was granted permission to apply for a judicial review in proceedings against the Commission in late 2024. Following Batmanghelidjh’s death in January 2024, Kids Company’s Clinical Director Michael-Karim Kerman has progressed the application for judicial review in her memory and with high-profile support. The hearing took place in March 2025 and the judgment is awaited.
In an article for Charity Finance, Tamasin Perkins, Partner and Lydia Kember, Associate in our Private Wealth Disputes team explore the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Kids Company. They examine the High Court proceedings, the judicial review process, and the broader implications for the charitable sector.
Regardless of the outcome of the Kids Company judicial review, the possibility of this avenue provides charities with some comfort. There is now a path of recourse where a charity feels dissatisfaction with a Charity Commission decision and to a Court which is not the Charity Tribunal. Charities wondering how to respond to an Inquiry, including from a reputational perspective, can consider judicial review (although the funding position may be difficult and it may be that this option can only be deployed where there is independent private funding).
Read the full piece in Charity Finance here (subscription required).
