Charity Communications: Soundbite Session - Kids Company

Camila Batmanghelidjh, Founder and Chief Executive of Kids Company, is an award-winning campaigner who was here to tell us all about how she uses media coverage to lobby government and represent children's issue to an audience who would not otherwise hear about them.

Kids Company has 220 paid workers, 3000 volunteers and around 100 clinical consultants.

It is very important to speak to journalists as kids have no voice to call their service providers to account. But it is important not to have a media agenda focussed on promoting the charity, but rather make all media coverage about the kids the charity is helping.

The Government needed to understand that young people can be reached. Without media coverage, the charity wouldn't have got their Government grant. Not that the Government had ill will, but they didn't think about the issues that the charity was addressing and they needed to think about those issues. The Government changed its financial structure, resulting in 90 charities applying for the new grants, with 5 receiving funding in the end.

The charity finds opportunities to bring the experiences of the kids to the public. They are 'bridging experiences'. The public won't go to a crack den, so the charity has to get the kids to bring a version of a crack den to the public through exhibitions, events, etc.

Their first motto is 'The kids come first'. As such, they won;t put any kids forward to speak to the media as a case study if they are vulnerable.

"Love and respect is a better surveillance camera than a surveillance camera itself."

Why do the media concentrate on Batmanghelidjh rather than the charity?

Firstly, she is fat and colourful (her words!). Secondly, she is prepared to be attached to an sensitive issue and is prepared to stand by what she says.

How do kids find the charity?

97% is through self-referral. These 'menaces to society' are talking to each other about the chairty and helping each other take advantage of the services it offers.

"If you can get the service right, the customer always comes."