Kids Company founder Camila Batmanghelidjh has announced plans to launch a food bank in Lambeth that will support up to 3,000 children.

The news comes within weeks of her company closing down after sexual assault and financial mismanagement claims.

Batmanghelidjh told the Sunday Times that up to 50 former staff have already volunteered to help run the food bank named Kids Dining Room.

“Some people may want me to disappear, but there are a whole lot of others who saw Kids Company as a lifeline,” she said.

“Children have been ringing me up saying they are hungry, so we are trying to salvage something from the mess that Westminster created.”

How Kids Company collapsed

Earlier this month, Batmanghelidjh refuted claims of financial mismanagement and sexual abuse that led Kids Company to close.

Batmanghelidjh told Newsnight: “This allegation [sexual abuse] has been brought to us for the first time by the police recently.

“I draw the line at sexual abuse. It’s one thing kids losing it because they are having a tantrum or they are having a distressing day and they hurl chairs and we deal with all that sort of stuff.

“But sexual abuse is very serious and if it was brought to our attention we would have absolutely dealt with it very robustly.”

LondonLovesBusiness spoke to a Kids Company worker who said that “people might kill themselves” over the closure of Kids Company.

Our source told us: “I’m worried that people might kill themselves. I’m worried that they are going to feel completely unloved and rejected. We’re not rejecting them, but they might feel that way. And I’m worried that they won’t have a roof to sleep under – a lot of my young people are homeless and I’m in the process of trying to house them. Some of them are in very, very difficult situations. We support them so much and give them care and love, so it’s really worrying.”

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“I’m worried people might kill themselves” – Inside the collapse of Kids Company