Kids Company
Project based in: UK
School-based emotional and therapeutic support for London’s most vulnerable children
The issue
Although London is one of the world’s richest cities, it is also home to some of Britain’s most disadvantaged children. Across the UK as a whole, 28% of children live below the poverty line. In London, the figure is 41% – more than 650,000 children. They are often extremely vulnerable: some are neglected, some are abused and many do not receive the emotional support that every child needs.
The response
Kids Company operates a Schools Programme to address this need. A network of expert practitioners are based in 38 schools that serve some of London’s most disadvantaged communities.
Each school has a Kids Company Team Leader who is also a qualified therapist. They set up a specialist therapy room, filled with toys and art materials, and can each call upon a group of up to 15 experts, many of whom are volunteers. Most are training in social work, psychotherapy or youth work, but there can also be artists, sports and music workers, depending on the specific requirements of each particular school.
Children in control
Unlike many other services offering similar support, children do not need an adult to refer them to Kids Company. Because the children can refer themselves and therefore remain in control, the teams have an average attendance rate of 95% at their sessions.
This is helped by the lack of stigma attached to the service. This is particularly true in primary schools, where often the Team Leader organises fun activities and outings. These enable children to investigate the team informally, amongst friends; they can then decide whether or not they want to use the service on an individual basis.
In cases where a child is at real risk of neglect or abuse, the Kids Company team proactively follows this up with local child protection services, doing whatever is required to safeguard the child at risk.
The organisation
Kids Company was founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh in 1996. Besides its work in schools, it provides practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable London children and young people through two other programmes: The Arches II, a children’s centre in Lambeth, and The Urban Academy: a post 16 educational and life skills academy in south east London.
In 2007 Kids Company was awarded the Liberty and JUSTICE Human Rights Award. In 2010 it was named as a ‘Child Poverty Champion’ by the End Child Poverty project for its success in enabling children to achieve their full potential.
The funding
Sofronie has made a grant of £200,000 to Kids Company, to support its Schools Programme in 2009/10. An earlier grant, also for £200,000, was awarded to support the same programme in 2008/09.
Contact information
T: +44 (0) 845 644 6838
E: info@kidsco.org.uk
W: www.kidsco.org.uk