The band Coldplay, which has donated around £8m to Kids Company over the years, is in talks with other philanthropists to save the charity's Treehouse Centre.
The band’s charitable foundation, JJ Van Mars, already owns the building, having bought it from the charity in 2013 for £1.6m.
Phil Harvey, Coldplay’s co-manager, said: “We’re incredibly proud of Treehouse’s work with children in great need over the past six years. It’s very early stages, but we’re not going to give up on the centre without looking at all options for the future.”
Coldplay usually makes an annual donation of £1.35m to Kids Company in September.
Rescue bids
In an interview with The Sunday Times Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder of Kids Company, said she had been approached by two different groups looking to rescue the charity.
She said: “One set is about saving provision for kids... another wants to save the organisation as a whole because they think it was destroyed by malicious rumours,” she said.
Batmanghelidjh told the newspaper that she would only become involved with any new charity once the police investigation has concluded.
Charity alleged to have paid school fees for staff member’s child
The Charity Commission has confirmed that its investigation into financial mismanagement covers allegations in the Daily Mail that the charity paid for the private school fees for the daughter of a member of staff.
According to the Daily Mail, Jeton Cavolli, who was Batmanghelidjh’s driver, sent his daughter to the £28,000 per year Dauntesey’s School.
The school’s chair of governors, Richard Handover, is also the charity’s vice-chair.
Batmanghelidjh and Alan Yentob, chair of Kids Company, have denied allegations of financial mismanagement.
Conservative Home calls for charities to become subject to FOI
Mark Wallace, executive editor of Conservative Home, has written an article calling on the government to make all charities that receive public funding subject to freedom of information requests in the wake of the collapse of Kids Company.
He wrote: “The rule ought to be quite simple – if you take taxpayers’ money, then you take on the responsibility to account for its use. That means the Freedom of Information Act should travel with taxpayers’ cash, ensuring that it is always under the protection of transparency whether it is spent by a company, a charity or a quango.
“That might be an irritation for some organisations, but it should be the price of being supported by the taxpayer – if you don’t want to answer to the people for your actions, then don’t ask them to pay your bills.”
The Public Accounts Committee is expected to open in inquiry into the collapse of Kids Company.
