The charity Kids Company was wound up suddenly earlier this month when a Government grant of £3 million was withheld. Although this was a major story in the mainstream media, one enmeshed in controversy, there was little or no controversy over the fact that a charity, so-called, was in receipt of any sort of state funding.

It may come as a surprise to some people that this was by no means exceptional, that many charities did and indeed continue to receive grants from both national and local government. Any charity that receives a substantial tranche of its funding from the state is rightly called a fake charity. Some are even paid to criticise the Government! The NSPCC actually has statutory powers, although these were not put to good use in the disgraceful case of Victoria Climbie. Some have suggested the NSPCC is little more than a gravy train for its overpaid executives, something that is at least partly true of many charities wherever their funding comes from. Let’s take a closer look at Kids Company though.

It was founded 18 years ago by a woman who has been described as charismatic, and might if judged on her appearance alone be called eccentric. Camila Batmanghelidjh is said to be a personal favourite of Prime Minister Cameron, and she certainly knows not only how to promote herself but how to use the media. She has also at times made impressive claims about her organisation, but how much of what she says is true?

According to the man who claims to be responsible for shutting it down, or at least igniting the fuse that led to its imploding:

“I first began looking into the charity in 2013. What struck me was the improbable statistics repeated ad infinitum in newspapers and on news programmes – notably those about the number of children and young people it claimed to ‘reach’ – when these were simply hard to believe on any logical basis.”

The number of clients on its books jumped from 13,500 in 2008 to 16,500 in 2010 before rising to a staggering 36,000 in 2011, a figure Miles Goslett calls staggering. As indeed was the largesse of its donors, the band Coldplay are said to have donated an estimated £8 million! So where did all this money go, and why couldn’t Kids Company pay its debts? Take a gander at its accounts for the year ending 2013, and you will have an idea.

In the letter from the Chief Executive, Miss Batmanghelidjh, the reader is informed: “central government initially gave us a grant of £4 million, and then a further £500,000 as a result of our campaigning. This funding represents 20% of our income, with the other 80% coming from over 75,000 different sources each year. This grant runs out in March 2015. We are, therefore, campaigning to get further and more robust funding.”

Even more Government money! [Emphases have been removed from the foregoing quote].

“We have seen the number of children turning to us at our street level centres double since 2011. The majority are asking for food and shelter. Many have been repeatedly sexually assaulted and physically harmed through knife attacks and firearm incidents. The perversion and depletion they endure is shockingly bleak and a dark contrast to the accumulated wealth ten minutes drive away from the ghettos we work in.”

Are there really any ghettos in the UK, in the proper sense? If these child victims had indeed been sexually assaulted repeatedly, stabbed or even shot, one would have expected the authorities to have been informed. Certainly anyone who has been shot should receive prompt medical attention. Is there an evidence this has happened, ever? How many times have Kids Company staff appeared in court to testify for the prosecution?

Under staff numbers and costs we find £11.8 million for 2013, an increase of £2.5 million on 2012, yet the charity’s total income was £23.1 million. The total number of staff working for the outfit appears to have been around 500, but that should be taken with a grain of salt. The latest estimate is 650 staff, though it is not clear how many were part-time or voluntary. No prizes for guessing who was paid the most. Now that she is temporarily out of a job, Miss Batmanghelidjh is said to be planning to open a food bank.

In case you have missed the point, charity is voluntary, that means donations come from private persons (including companies) not from governments. Governments do not have money of their own, everything they do own is held in trust for the people, that means all of us. A government that donates to a charity is not making a charitable donation, rather it is taxing the public.

If Kids Companys’ major donors had so desired, they could have given money or assistance directly to those in need. Imagine how many kids Coldplay could have benefitted if they had done so with their magnificent £8 million in donations. Whatever, no one, wealthy or otherwise, should be tempted to donate to any fake charity, and that includes you, if you want your hard earned money to improve the lives of those at the bottom of society instead of enriching those who solicit funds from the public then take a hefty bite out of the apple before handing the core to their oppressed clientele.