Kids Company founder Camila Batmanghelidjh dies

Kids Company charity founder and social justice campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh has died aged 61.

The Iranian-Belgian started the charity in 1996 in south London, to provide support to up to 36,000 deprived and vulnerable inner-city children and young people.

In 2015 she stepped down amid allegations of mismanagement — but a High Court cleared her of wrongdoing.

She died on Monday — her birthday — having been ill for some time.

Ms Batmanghelidjh is said to have spent her last Christmas at home wrapping presents for vulnerable children.

A family statement shared with the Guardian newspaper said she died «peacefully in her sleep» on the night of 1 January, after celebrating her birthday with loved ones.

It described her as an «endless source of inspiration» who «dedicated her life to advocating for Britain's most vulnerable children».

The statement said: «For all those around her, and especially for her family, she was an endless source of inspiration, a fountain of wit, and a kaleidoscope of colour.»

Born into a wealthy family in Iran, Ms Batmanghelidjh arrived in England aged 12, speaking little English, and went on to gain a first-class degree from the University of Warwick.

She was educated at the the private Sherborne Girls school in Dorset and was there when the Iranian revolution broke out and her father was captured. She says he was presumed dead for three years, before they were eventually reunited — something which had a profound effect on her family. He died in 2006.

In a 2014 interview, she said she had been born prematurely and it was thought that she would die. As a result of this, her birth had not been registered.

«I don't know my birthday. My mother can't remember,» she said.

After training as a