Ex-Kids Company building in south London 'occupied by squatters'

Collapsed: Locked gates at Kids Company's closed HQ
PA
Sebastian Mann25 October 2015

Squatters have reportedly moved in to the former headquarters of dissolved charity Kids Company.

Up to 60 people have occupied the building in Camberwell, south London, after charity employees vacated the building in August amid a row over financial mismanagement, according to the Daily Mail.

The paper published pictures of a man climbing over a locked gate and quoted him as saying he was a Polish chef with nowhere else to live.

A sign on the gates apparently claims the squatters have a legal right to be in the building.

According to the paper, it states: "If you want to get us out you will have to issue a claim for possession in the County Court or High Court. We live in this property. It is our home and we intend to stay here."

A police spokesman said the occupation was "a civil matter between the squatters and the owners of the building".

Kids Company ceased operations at the start of August after the government pulled an annual grant of £3m amid allegations of financial mismanagement at the charity.

Later that month, the charity's beleaguered founder Camila Batmanghelidjh opened a pop-up food bank under railway arches near Loughborough Junction, south London, saying it would be a "new lifeline" for vulnerable children.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in