Kids Company

Project aims: Kids Company is a charity which provides emotional and practical support to children to bring about positive changes to their lives. The charity seeks to emotionally re-engage young people and encourage them to value their lives and futures, which has a significant impact on youth offending levels (independent observers estimate that in 10 years Kids Company has saved more than 3,000 children from going to prison or committing violent crime or murder). Kids Company also provides support to teachers and parents who work with disadvantaged children.

Lead organisation(s): Kids Company.

Client group: Children and young people without parental support. Kids Company currently supports some 5,000 vulnerable children and young people. The young people usually self-refer themselves to Kids Company after hearing about the organisation through word-of-mouth.

Programme delivery: The services offered by Kids Company include psychotherapy, education, art, sports and hot meals, as well as practical support such as accompanying them to youth courts, finding accommodation and advocacy with mental health teams. The Arches II, a drop-in centre, is open six days a week and meals are provided three times a day. Clothes and basis necessities are also provided, as is social work, special educational support, medical and psychiatric intervention. Kids Company also works in schools offering therapy, social work and group activities to prevent children from leaving school or becoming excluded. The organisations works in 25 inner city schools in London, and also has post-16 educational programme, the Urban Academy. The organisation has an average of 661 volunteers annually, of whom approximately 161 are social work and therapy trainees, and other 500 are drawn by city companies.

Kids Company is currently doing research in association with Great Ormond Street Hospital in order to illustrate that young people who have been abused in the past are disadvantaged on a neuro-chemical level, rendering them unable to control their emotions or reactions effectively. Other recent initiatives include the Shrinking childhoods exhibition at Tate Modern, which ran for 5 months and was visited by approximately 28,000 people.

Funding: The programme costs around £3 million a year to run. A three-year grant from the Treasury contributes £1 million annually to this budget, and a further £500,000 is contributed through service level agreements. In addition, Kids Company raises approximately £1.5 million a year from the private sector and individual donations.

Contact: Karen Stenning on 0845 644 6838 or info@kidsco.org.uk; Website: www.kidsco.org.uk