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NewsletterSUMMER 2013 - issue 14

Summer Crisis Appeal 2013For most children, the summer holidays are a time to look forward to but for the children of Kids Company they're about dread. With schools closed they lose the security of school lunches and the comfort of routine. If they are being abused at home, they are more likely to be harmed and to feel despair.

It doesn’t take much to turn this around: A couple of trips to places of interest, the warm embrace of enthusiastic Kids Company workers, some clean and bright clothes as well as the camaraderie of other children. This is what the Kids Company Summer is about. We try and create a home for children who yearn for one. We inspire, educate and reduce the children, and ourselves, to giggles.

This summer, however, we are very short of money. Fundraising has become exceptionally difficult. You know you’re in trouble when multimillionaires are telling you they don’t have money to donate! We’ve been very lucky because the kindness of the general public has kept us going. So, we’re appealing to all our friends to rally their acquaintances and encourage everyone they know to send us a donation.

Everyone thinks Kids Company must be OK but the truth is, the numbers of children turning to us for help has doubled, with some 36000 vulnerable human beings who see us as a source of hope. We can only remain a good possibility if we have the funding to keep our doors open. So, please, this is one of those exceptional moments where we need you to hear our plea and do something to help. It is painful to see a child sticking his shoe together with chewing gum and not being able to replace it with a new one. Every child deserves dignity. Being hungry, in one of the richest countries of the world, with no access to food, is a crime against childhood. We can change this together, this summer, for the thousands of children who turn to Kids Company. Please help us by donating through the following outlets...

HOW TO DONATE AND GIFT AID MESSAGE

On line:

http://www.justgiving.com/KidsCompanySummerCrisis

Cheque:

You can send a cheque to Kids Company, 1, Kenbury Street, London SE5 9BS. Please clearly mark the following code on the back of your cheque - SPEVE157

Or simply text ‘KIDS43’ and the amount you want to donate to 70070. For example, to donate £10, text ‘KIDS43 £10’.

The donation amount will be added to your mobile phone bill. There are no additional costs, 100% of the donations come to Kids Company and it will not affect any text allowance on your phone plan.

8 Childood: The Real Event - exhibition at the Royal Academy10 Alley Cat12 Festival of Life and Death14 Bulgari Awards Ceremony16 Morgan Stanley Heart Yard Opening17 Samsung18 Art with Heart 19 Global Kids Fashion Week20 Job therapy21 Comic Relief22 Mind the Child/ Liberty/ Sisley/ Selfridges 24 Urban Wisdom 26 C.L.I.P. etc. 27 The Olympics28 Coming soon - LSE conference/ Freud Museum exhibition

4 Introduction6 Success stories

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fundraising

volunteering

29 Poetry30 Kenbury - Arches II 32 Bristol.34 Treehouse35 Damien Hirst36 The Urban Academy

38 Marylebone Summer Fayre39 Overseas challenges

40 Amazing Volunteers41 Meet the Volunteer: Paul Cook

CONTENT

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Dear friend,

Can you imagine the loneliness of a little girl who hides in the tumble dryer at the launderette? She has run away from abuse at home and she hopes that the launderette lady will find her. She is looking for human warmth. Imagine the shame of a young boy who is so afraid that no one will remember his birthday, that he calls his keyworker at Kids Company to ask if he can come for dinner. He expected us to forget him because his mother never remembers. After three years, you get your degree results. The other students are calling home, but you have no one to call except the Kids Company keyworker who delights in your achievement.

People are prepared to pay for buildings and computer suites, but you can’t stick a corporate plaque on a human being. Yet human beings need each other to flourish. Children who have been maltreated need the care of someone compassionate to recover. Kids Company has some 600 extraordinary workers sharing their beautiful souls with the 36,000 children, parents and young adults who seek our help. For our workers to be available to our children, we need the help of our kind and generous supporters. Without you, we couldn’t find the lonely children who want us to help them be less alone. So, if you have someone in your life you cherish, celebrate them by donating, so that our children can be cherished too.

For those of you who need it without the poetry: we’re really desperate for money!

Yours, the relentless fat beg,

Camila

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5000 coats were handed out to children who desperately needed them

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Dear Camila,

I have some fantastic news. I have received my undergraduate classification which resulted in a 2:1 in Business Management & Human Resource Management! This is a massive achievement because I am the first in my family to receive a degree. You helped me stick through university when I was suffering from homesickness and had very little funds to live on. In my heart I believe it is because of your guidance that I'd love to continue with my education and do a master's degree.

I'm running out of superlatives for you. Thank you again.

Much Love

Name withheld due to confidentiality

Over 90% of our young people are now either in education, employment, training, short courses or apprenticeships. These are amazing statistics when you consider that the majority of the young people we support arrive without being engaged in any of these opportunities.

After being child trafficked aged 12, with no English, one of our young people has recently graduated with a 2:1 in Social Policy and achieved a First for her dissertation

One of our young people has just passed her medical exams with a distinction from UCL. She is now a doctor and on her way to Cambridge to her first job.

Two young people have secured full-time jobs with Headmasters after taking part in the Headmasters Apprenticeship scheme

One of our budding chefs met the Head Chef at The One Group to discuss an apprenticeship and having been a ‘delight to interview’, was offered a full time chef role

Successes of our young people

One of our young people took the initiative to ask for an opportunity to do work experience at Barclays. After successfully completing two weeks at a branch, he was asked to interview for the position. He has now worked at the Barclays branch for over seven months and is ‘loving every bit of it.’

After completing two weeks of work experience in Client Services and Catering at Blackrock, our young person kept in contact with the corporation and was asked to cover on a temporary basis. The contract has now been extended to a one year contract.

The ongoing Morgan Stanley mentoring scheme has seen 28 young people mentored by Morgan Stanley staff and two have now become full time staff members themselves!

And finally, one young person was awarded a first class degree in Pharmacy from a Russell Group university.

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CHILD HOOD: THE REAL EVENT

“The kids’ artwork is incredible...it shows how important it is to give kids a visual voice when all else fails.”

Damien Hirst8

The children of Kids Company produced a triumphant art exhibition in partnership with the Royal Academy. A thousand young artists explored the theme of childhood, producing poignant and aesthetically outstanding work. The exhibition was given a five-star rating by the Daily Telegraph, which the Royal Academy described as ‘a first’.

Subsequently Kids Company was awarded the Canterbury Christ Church University and RSPH’s ‘Art and Health Awards 2013’. We are going to continue with our collaborations and will hold another exhibition at the Royal Academy in December this year. The exhibition was funded through a generous grant from the Bertha Foundation and the Waterloo Foundation as well as the Arts Council.

‘A triumph indeed’Daily Telegraph *****

'Just sobbed and ran from Kids Company exhibition at Royal Academy. Powerful images of abuse and fear turned by kids into inspired art. Genious.' @Mariella Frostrup

‘Groundbreaking exhibition’ The Guardian

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This is Natalie Murphy’s painting. She arrived at Kids Company as a homeless 15-year-old. We supported her through university. She is now an outstanding painter and filmmaker.

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ALLEY CAT‘Alley Cat’ is a 19-year-old girl who has been homeless since the age of 12, spending most of her teenage years scavenging for food and sleeping in boiler rooms, parks and even her old school.

Hunger bought her to Kids Company, but since finding her a secure home and other support, she has managed to gain a place at a prestigious university.

An exceptional writer and artist, she recreates the dark corners of the city where she curled up for shelter over the years with her toy cat, ‘Leopard’.

Represented by a tiny plasticine figurine, who narrates her experience in speech bubbles, she shows us the launderette where she used to hide.

She would curl up in the tumble dryer and wait for the manager to leave, secretly hoping she would be discovered and rescued.

Her tone is heartbreakingly optimistic and a testament to her strength of character and her courage.

11Exhibited at the Royal Academy

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FESTIVAL OF LIFE AND DEATH A giant phoenix, glowing skulls and hand painted costumes were created and displayed in a celebration of life and death on the Southbank in the Spring.

They were accompanied by the sombre tones of award-winning London-based New Orlean’s jazz musician Abram Wilson and his quartet as part of Death: Southbank’s Festival for the living.

Working with professional artists – including fashion designer Matthew Williamson – the children spent months creating the elaborate costumes and the parade culminated in readings of their poetry at the Royal Festival Hall.

Speaking after the performance, Jude Kelly OBE, said:'I just want to remind you that this whole weekend is about looking death in the face.'

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BULGARI AWARDS CEREMONYIn March, the illustrious Bulgari Hotel, owned by the wonderful Hani Farsi, held a celebratiory champagne tea party to thank the volunteers and staff of Kids Company schools programme. The hotel has some of the most fabulous staff including the general manager Ercoli Sylvain. They made the afternoon truly special as awards were handed out to dedicated workers, who have for years made an amazing commitment to vulnerable children. To thank them, one of our young people dedicated a poem:

The stare from a butterfly’s wings

Karl Lokko

Have you ever seen the eyes on a butterfly’s wing?Deep, like the gaze of glorified kings.They can overwrite, they can overwhelm, eternal. Like - Like - Like they appear from another realmAnother world, another life. Yes another life -I too have known another life, another state.I’m a walking contradiction, I should have shared another fateI’ve known a butterfly’s fame but felt the caterpillar’s painMy cocoon was love.But who will love the caterpillar? Drug dealer.Who will love the caterpillar? Gang member.Who will love the caterpillar? No, they only love the butterflyThey take pictures of the butterflyThey speak scriptures of the butterflyBut they label a nuisance, we that couldn’t flyThey say the eyes are the window to the soul, so if you really look carefully, you can see the caterpillar’s pain in the eyes of the butterfly wings. It stings.So strange is change, so great is love.Love is my cocoon.Change is neither a contemporary art nor a recent trend.The butterfly has been from the era EoceneSo for 50 million years it’s been standing as a proofthat change is real, that change will come.I say cocoon to the sky!The butterfly is an epistle that the old me can die, so that the true me may liveNow the wingless has wings, but it took awhileMetamorphosis it took a trial, it took a hug, it took a kiss, it took a smile.But let the truth be toldThis caterpillar was a butterfly all the whileIn need of a cocoon

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MORGAN STANLEY HEART YARD OPENINGFor two years, Kids Company and Morgan Stanley have had a partnership during which many of our young people were given advice and work experience opportunities. Morgan Stanley staff volunteered on a range of projects and they raised £1.6 million to buy Kids Company a new therapy house called the Morgan Stanley Heart Yard. Thousands of exceptionally vulnerable children will be offered specialist trauma recovery programmes thanks to the generosity of this amazing bank.

‘The Morgan Stanley Heart Yard was generated through love, every brick evidence of a stranger's compassion.’

- Camila Batmanghelidjh, CEO Kids Company

‘Our employees have helped to provide a permanent base in which Kids Company can continue to deliver its vital work with thousands of children, and we are proud and honoured to have contributed to such an invaluable and important cause.’

- Colm Kelleher, President of Institutional Securities, Morgan Stanley.

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SAMSUNGThe opening of the Samsung Digital Studio at our Urban Academy last year marked the continuation of a successful partnership with Samsung following the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The studio features a host of Samsung products and is a safe place for young people without a school place, to learn and be inspired by innovative digital technology. It will leave a lasting legacy as part of the ‘Samsung Hope for Youth’ campaign. The campaign provides expertise, technology and resources for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

The partnership between Samsung and Kids Company started in May 2012, allowing our children and young people to take part in London 2012 and enjoy the buzz of the summer sporting events. Our young ambassadors were invited to carry The Olympic Flame during The Olympic Torch Relay, children attended a football day at the Samsung sponsored football club, Leyton Orient, and some were lucky enough to attend Olympic events in Stratford. 2012 footballs were also donated to Kids Company after consumers scored hat-tricks on an augmented reality football game at the Samsung Olympic Pin store at the Olympic Park.

Kids Company was also a beneficiary of the hugely popular Hope Relay app. For every mile completed by walking, running or cycling, Samsung donated £1 to charities! Team Samsung athletes took part, as did Zara Philips and Sally Brown, to contribute to the staggering 500,000 miles completed in the UK alone!

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One of our young people with Victoria Pendleton.

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ART WITH HEARTIn May, the Saatchi Gallery hosted a private viewing and sale of German artist Gunter Roth’s Bathers series of paintings. A fantastic crowd gathered and the event was sponsored by Luca and Graziella Ferrari who have been long-term supporters of Kids Company. Serena Morton curated the exhibition and sales are continuing. Monies raised will go to fund our art therapy programme.

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GLOBAL KIDS FASHION WEEKThis spring, Grace Club in Belgravia hosted the first ever Kids Global Fashion Week, where stylish parents and children raised an incredible £10,000 for Kids Company. The amazing Bella Freud, who we all adore beyond words, spoke at the opening and all proceeds from the fabulous fashion show went to Kids Company.

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JOB THERAPYEight of Kids Company’s young people made their television debut on Channel 4’s ‘Secret Millions’ this Spring. Led by Gok Wan, the documentary follows the journey of the young people as they pilot a new therapy-based programme, a project that will develop the skills that our most vulnerable young people need to enter the workplace.

As a result of the pilot, BIG Lottery Fund awarded us £2 million for two years to roll out a programme to hundreds of our young people.

‘Everything we’ve learnt to do well, the young people taught us. They are the experts, we just made their expertise visible.’

- Camila Batmanghelidjh, CEO Kids Company

In recent interviews with 668 young people, Kids Company found that:

51% had a history of non-engagement with statutory education

58% described themselves as having learning difficulties

22% were excluded from school.

95% are returned to education and/or employment.

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COMIC RELIEFComic Relief have given us substantial support over a number of years. Recently, John Bishop, the comedian, spent a full day finding out from children the challenges they endure in depleted urban settings.

‘I wasn’t aware so many kids were lacking basic things like a hot meal at night and somewhere warm and safe to live. Some families out there have unimaginably tough lives.’

This is the bedroom of Shaun, who is thirteen years old. Many of the children we support live in conditions just as bad and sometimes even worse than this.

Shaun’s family were living in atrocious conditions, with barely any furniture and damp taking over every room. After 30 years as a lorry driver, Shaun’s father had an accident which left him wheelchair-bound. He now requires full-time care which his wife, who has learning difficulties, provides. As a consequence, both parents are unable to provide Shaun and his sister with the financial and parental support they deserve, despite the obvious love that exists within the family.

With the help of Comic Relief, Kids Company has been able to refurbish Shaun’s home and provide his family with a clean, safe environment and restore some dignity to their lives.

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How some of our friends have helped our children...

LIBERTY Liberty has continued its fantastic support for Kids Company by championing our young people’s fashion label, Bare Thread. The gorgeous ‘Hoods that Hug’ for children, a T-shirt and Christmas cards, all designed by our talented young people, are sold in Liberty, with proceeds from all the ranges going to Kids Company. Liberty’s commitment to us is also demonstrated through a tailor-made workplace scheme, ‘Path to Employment’. Running for the second consecutive year, the scheme offers our Urban Academy students a week’s work experience with the store.

MIND THE CHILDTo celebrate 150 years of the London Underground, Penguin Books has published a series of twelve books, each one inspired by a London Underground line. Kids Company has been given the honour of writing one of these twelve books. Penguin tell us that our book is the best seller in the series.

Written by Camila and some of the children of Kids Company, Mind the Child follows the children’s memories of struggling with childhood trauma. The book gives an honest, open, and, at times, harrowing insight into the everyday lives of the children Kids Company supports.

Mind The Child is on sale in all bookshops, RRP £4.99, and is also available as an e-book. The cover was designed by one of our amazing young people, Natalie Murphy

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SISLEYSisley staff created a fantastic garden with our children, planting vegetables which they then picked and made into a delicious lunch. Kyle, aged 8, was very upset when the marvellous Christine D’Ornano, International Vice President of Sisley, returned to see the garden’s progression because he felt he had overfed the carrots...with his cornflakes! Our partnership included a percentage of sales donation, a special lunch and payroll giving amounting to an incredible £70K.

SELFRIDGESSelfridges has been a fantastic and exciting source of support for Kids Company, using its visual expertise to generate awareness and support for Kids Company. From the Bruce Weber T-shirt and ‘Love is all it Takes’ bracelets, to the Kids Company window at Christmas, collection tins in the concept stores and tea ladies handing out free hot chocolate in return for a donation, they have been fantastic! The staff have been amazing: they have participated in Volunteer wrapping days at Christmas, given donations from their staff parties, private shopping events and given gifts in kind. They’ve even managed to squeeze in a few half marathons too!

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URBAN WISDOMYoung people are often talked about but rarely get the chance to talk about themselves and the issues that affect them. Kids Company works with exceptionally hard-to-reach young people; their experiences are often under-reported, misunderstood or misrepresented.  Vulnerable children don’t vote, so they cannot hold politicians accountable.

In response, a collective of young people who have been supported by Kids Company have formed a think tank, Urban Wisdom. They represent the children and young people living in the vulnerable communities we reach.

The group has so far worked with the Children’s Commissioner on gangs and the sexual abuse of girls and recently visited the Treasury for a focus group on Pay Day Lending. They have also published an article in the Guardian.

If you would like to contact Urban Wisdom email urbanwisdom@kidsco.org.uk and check out their blog at www.kidscourbanwisdom.wordpress.com.

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'My name is Linford. The reason I have joined Urban wisdom is because I believe in making a change. I believe that the youths of today are seen but not heard! As a young person, I feel it is important to be able to voice my concerns and opinions. Politics seems to be a grey area for most and many lack the know how to get involved in politics in their local area. As the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow, we need to learn and get our voices heard.'

'My name is Wade. The reason why I decided to be a part of Urban Wisdom is because I not only want to be a part of social change, I want to be one of the already many young and mature people to lead that change.'

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"If I'd have had something

like CLIP.etc my life would have been a heck of a lot different. I spent years looking for someone to blame,

for the fact that I was treated as if I didn't matter. Now I'm older, I can see how much pressure social workers are under and I can understand how they didn't have the time. But at the same time, let us take some of the

load off. We can do the bits and bobs they don't have time for, so they can focus on the other things. Because no one should have to feel

like they don't matter." Claire

YOUNG CARE LEAVERS SET UP THEIR OWN CHARITYThree young women who grew up in care have launched a charity to give other care leavers the emotional and practical support they lacked. The three founders have had to fight to keep their own children because care leavers are automatically treated as mental health patients rather than people who have suffered trauma.

Claire, Hannah and Becky26

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US ATHLETES VISIT KENBURYThis summer our children and young people have tested their sporting prowess against some of the greatest athletes on the planet. The US team spent an afternoon at our after-school-activities club and donated £100 for every gold medal they won as a special ‘thank you’ to London for hosting the Olympics.They won 46 medals, bringing the total to £4600.

The iconic symbol of world unity was carried through the capital by our young people.

Clad in team GB tracksuits, our children were given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch through the city and on a boat on the Thames.

Kids company young people run with the olympic torch

'If I were going to get a gold medal, I would get it for my courage. I have a lot of courage.'

Malika, 10

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COMING SOONMolecules of Happiness – why love matters for vulnerable children

London School of Economics conference

This conference, for the first time, will present research from the London School of Economics social psychology department into how Kids Company’s model works and why. You will also hear the first shocking findings from University College London’s department of Risk and Resilience. These findings will shape and inform the debate on youth disaffection, child and adolescent mental health, education and youth violence for years to come. Finally, you will hear new insights from the frontline of Developmental Trauma treatment and learn why love really does matter for vulnerable children.

Please join us at the London School of Economics on 26 September. The tickets are free and will sell out very quickly so please register interest by emailing barbara.burke@kidsco.org.uk

Kids Company art exhibition at the Freud MuseumKids Company, The Freud Museum and The Anna Freud Centre invite you to a Private View of 'HIDE AND SEEK', a powerfully poignant exhibition of artworks created by the children of Kids Company.

The evening will open with a lecture from Professor Peter Fonagy OBE and an introduction to the exhibition by Camila Batmanghelidjh CBE. There are only 90 tickets available at £20 for the opening event on 4 September so please book now at www.freud.org,uk

“Those who hide always hope that someone kind will someday find them, and be happy. The children of Kids Company, through their art, are coming to find you.” Camila Batmanghelidjh

The exhibition runs from the 5 – 29 September

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POETRYA gift for poetry and live performance has been discovered by many of our young people this year during spoken word workshops at the Urban Academy.

Young people and Kids Company staff worked with the writing charity English PEN to create a series of poems through the Big Writing For a Small World project with poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes.

Extracts from their work are in two books and they have performed several times in public, thanks to the Bermondsey bookshop Woolfson and Tay who hosted the events.

Two of our young people, Wade and Monique, read at the book launch at the European House in front of European Commission representatives who funded the project.

Despite the project coming to an end, the writing workshops are continuing due to popular demand and have almost doubled in size since they were set up.

Staff have forged links with the renowned spoken word poetry collective Apples and Snakes, Index on Censorship youth project Tripwires and Francesca Beard who came to do a workshop on young people, politics and censorship.

Belief is when the odds are stacked up against youBut instead of giving up, you tell yourself that nothing can prevent youBelief is when although you see a community of poverty,You hold the vision in your mindAnd meet that vision in your Dreams

By Jessica Richards

These fears surrounded me like an ocean to a rock. Deep inside, beyond my heart and soul lay a friend that I never knew, his name was courage. He gave me the key I needed to fight back, after coming so close to defeat, so with all that said, I made it. Excerpt from `I Made It` by Anael

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"They persuaded me to try broccoli. I used to really hate it because it looked like little trees. But they said I couldn’t go until I tried it. When I did I really liked it.Now I like eating little trees."

Sara, 1230

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COOKING CLUBS

There is always a waiting list to take part in the healthy cooking workshops.

Whether they are making ‘real’ chicken nuggets or salmon fishcakes, our children love nothing more than getting their hands messy in the kitchen.

One of the aims of the workshops is to expand their horizons and, as well as learning where their food comes from, they experience new and unusual tastes.

We’re hoping to run this programme in schools during holidays, but this is dependent on funding. Watch this space...

KIDS COOK FOR VIPs

Promising young chefs from Kids Company cooked and served up a three-course meal for VIPs to raise money for charity.

Four young people from the Treehouse rustled up a delicious lunch for high-profile charity workers, a restauranteur and proud family members at the Clerkenwell Kitchen. The teenagers are all planning to study cooking and catering at college, and they managed to raise £255.75 for Free the Children, which will help to educate youngsters in a Kenyan village school.

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BRISTOL

Bristol City Council invited Kids Company to submit a tender for the education of children who cannot manage in normal pupil referral units or schools because their behaviour is too disturbed. We won the competitive tender in January 2013 and commenced work in Bristol. Currently we have two educational sites: one for children aged 8 - 16; the other for children aged 12 - 16.

In addition to the education authority’s tender, three small projects working with 16 - 19-year-olds in Bristol, approached Kids Company to ask if they could be amalgamated and brought under the umbrella of Kids Company Bristol. Their concern was that young people were presenting with multiple needs, including mental health difficulties too severe for the charities to cope with. Two Bristol academies are now working with us where we are running our Therapeutic Schools Programme.

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In February, I visited Bristol to meet the children and young people. I am a clinician with thirty years of street-level therapeutic and social work experience but I was stunned by the extent to which some of these children have been sexually and/or physically abused. They have been profoundly devastated. I cried for two-and-a-half hours on my way back to London.

Child P is a beautiful 8-year-old girl who looks like a 5-year-old. When I first met her she was crawling under cardboard boxes and climbing on top of filing cabinets where she curled up in a foetal position. She disclosed sexual abuse, from which she has sexually transmitted infections. The mother is a prolific drug addict and the child has clearly been neglected for years. She is hyper-vigilant and finds it difficult to sit still, or to be in a space with others. She’s now with an exceptionally kind foster carer, but the carer feels there isn’t adequate support for her and her complex needs. The little girl is very gifted. Once she has testified in court we will be able to work therapeutically with her and help her acquire some mastery over her own disturbed behaviours. She wants to write and perform and she has a talent for poetry.

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Paris, the graffiti artist, came to the Treehouse to lead a graffiti workshop with our kids.

The workshop was a huge success; the children were utterly enthralled by Paris’ graffiti and became totally engrossed in the activities.

In the past, Paris has worked with Coldplay, teaching the band to create their own graffiti, which subsequently became the Mylo Xyloto album cover.

The Coldplay graffiti wall will soon be auctioned to raise money for Kids Company. Thank you, Paris!

COLDPLAY GRAFFITI WORKSHOP WITH PARIS

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THANKS TO DAMIEN HIRST...The marvellous Damien Hirst helped some of our children make magical spin paintings last Summer as part of an all day event organised by Tate Modern.

Camila and Damien created a heart spin painting together which we then auctioned at our Gala Dinner. Damien has generously supported Kids Company behind the scenes for many years and our children and staff love him!

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THE URBAN ACADEMY PROMThe red carpet was rolled out for an extra-special end-of-term celebration this year when the Urban Academy held its first ever prom for 90 young people. Delfina’s in Bermondsey Street provided a brilliant venue and a free soft-drink bar, while a professional make-up artist helped the girls to sparkle in gorgeous dresses, kindly lent to them by Topshop.

Congratulations to Wade Wallace and Christelle Koffi, who were voted the Urban Academy’s first Prom King and Queen!

'It’s like my family at Kids Company. If you have a problem, you can just tell anybody. There is always a solution. It’s like a house here! Because everybody is like brother and sister at the Urban Academy. It inspires me to create.'

Daniel, 21

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Daniel, 21

CASE STUDY'It used to be all about money for me. I was rolling with bad company and I was getting into trouble. And I went to prison for that. But I’m starting to get positive now.

How did I first come to Kids Company? I was in my flat and I had no food. My friend was already going and said ‘come, there’s food, innit?’. They gave me a meal and a keyworker.

Things started to get better. I’ve got a lot of positive friends here; friends who are doing something with themselves. I’m working now. I’m not earning as much money as I was but I don’t have to look over my shoulder and I don’t spend it straight away, I save money now. I feel more creative and I want to be a carpenter and design my own furniture, so I can set up my own business.'

Kyle is eighteen and has been coming to Kids Company for six months.

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In June we were honoured to be the chosen charity for the Marylebone Fayre. More than 30,000 people descended on the sunny streets and grassy squares for an afternoon of strawberries and champagne, rides and music. This wonderful day raised more than £27,000 for Kids Company.

MARYLEBONE FAYRE

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OVERSEES CHALLENGESDue to the fantastic demand, in 2012 we ran 2 Arctic Biathlon trips back to back. Taylor Wessing and Andrew Winch Designs both entered 3 teams each and contributed hugely towards the phenomenal total raised of £85,000. Even with temperatures as low as -32º the teams battled on competing against one another on dog sleds and cross country skis. We were also lucky enough to see the Northern Lights twice! Thank you to everyone that took part and we look forward to breaking this fundraising record in 2013!

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KIDS COMPANY’S AMAZING VOLUNTEERS

This year 700 new volunteers and 1,400 new corporate volunteers have joined Kids Company. Our children are now being helped by a total of 11,000 amazing volunteers who show their friendship in numerous ways, from painting bedroom walls and fixing family washing machines, to teaching little ones how to read. If you would like to find out more about volunteering at Kids Company, email volunteer@kidsco.org.uk.

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1. How did you become involved in Kids Company?I saw the 'Shrinking Childhoods' exhibition and was shocked by what I saw. Fast forward to 2007 when I finally took the leap and signed up as a mentor and completed the training course. 

2. How was your first meeting with D.?The first meeting with my mentee was at his flat with his family and we were all nervously on our best behaviour! I took D. on a Boris bike to visit Waterloo Station, the Millennium Bridge and a wander around the Southbank.

3. How has the relationship developed?We have both been growing into the relationship getting to know each other's humour, characteristics and foibles. We try to meet up fortnightly. Some donated Olympic tickets from Kids Company inspired us to start basketball, so you might spot us mucking around with a ball on a council court.

4. What has been the most difficult thing about mentoring?Learning how to pace the frequency of our mentoring visits, so that the mentee feels in control whilst enabling me to schedule the day and time we plan to go out. Naturally, as boys turn into young adults, their needs and expectations of a mentor change, so I'm learning to adapt to letting D. take on a greater role in shaping our time together.

5. What has been the best moment?Despite some of the more adventurous things we do, I really look forward to a long bus journey when D. opens up and tells me about what he has been doing since we last met. I can never predict where his stories will lead to and I secretly hope the bus doesn't reach its destination too soon.

MALE MENTOR PLEA

Could you be a positive role model for our children?We have a great need for male mentors within our Mentoring Programme and are actively recruiting caring, enthusiastic men who are committed to our work and to working with our young people.If you or someone you know would like to become a positive male role model in the life of a young person through mentoring, please contact the Mentoring Team at mentoring@kidsco.org.uk or on 020-7202-2700.

Meet the volunteer: Paul Cook

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THANKS TO...Richard Brindle, Paula Porter at Lancashire Group, plus Gavin Kelly at Kinmont for their Summer Appeal.

Peter de Haan Charitable Trust - also for the Summer Appeal to raise funds for our summer activities and trips and the continued support of our children during the holidays.

Everyone at Morgan Stanley, who have raised over £1.6m to buy our first building: the Morgan Stanley Heart Yard, which opened in April 2013.

Samsung for its financial support, kit for our Urban academy, and torch relay places for our young people. They also generously gave us tickets for Olympic events.

The Drapers' Company and Anthony Walker, Master Draper - we have been his charity for 2012. The Master's appeal raised funding for our activities programme.

AstraZeneca for its continued support of our Right to Health programme, Young Writers programme and Volunteering.

The Belgravia Traders Association for their summer event in June

Howard De Walden Estate for choosing us as the charity of the Marylebone Summer Fayre in June

Thanks to Camp Bestival for giving us a free stand and Camila a platform.

Thanks to Lee Fest who have been raising money for us for the last five years.

And also...

US Olympics team

Our Retail Partnerships with Sisley, Elemis, Folli Follie, Liberty, Selfridges

Dhillon Group, Boden and Netmums

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The city is raw and roughI take a penny and make circles in the brickSo the city knows I'm here

I am the city that doesn't sleepThe little lost lightThat lingers silent against the snoresThe nests and ant hills stay solid in their stanceStatic with the grime of my blood

Nothing changes in this city As I walk the pictures move ahead ofMe endless seasons of hostile beautyThe beauty of what is to be foundThe beauty of what doesn't change

I will walk along the city darting looks from mad eyesI stroke the city as it sleeps And nourish the stones with my secret feet

Finally as Dawn Cracks lazilyThe citys hand scoops me up an tells me it's alright to sleep The city is always open ready to hold my weary eyes and weeping legsThe city is my lighthouse.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Alley Cat

Front cover artwork by Ariana Kerman, age 8