Charity's Struggle After Kids Company Closure

Nearly three weeks after the closure of Kids Company, a charity in London is warning it needs more funding and support to help those who relied on the organisation.

Options4Change, which is based in Streatham, says around 40 families with children who previously attended Kids Company have been in touch in recent weeks.

The charity's founder, Donna Sinclair, told Sky News: "We are dealing with families being broken up, parents not being able to feed their children, they don't even have basic travel expenses.

"School returns in a couple of weeks time, (and) we don't have the resources to give them school uniforms."

Tracey Spence contacted Options4Change for support.

She has two children with disabilities and a 17-year-old daughter who is pregnant.

Kids Company were due to pay some of their rent arrears, but now that the charity has closed, they face eviction in two weeks.

Ms Spence said: "You don't get to focus on what you really want to do with your kids and for your kids, because you have other worries to think about, like how am I going to get through this?

"There is no one here to support me. I had Kids Company here to support me, now where do I look, who do I turn to? There are a lot of worries."

Nearly three weeks ago, hundreds of people turned out to protest at Kids Company's headquarters in Camberwell, claiming the organisation was a "family that did good".

While the doors are now firmly shut, coloured notes have been posted on the railings, highlighting just how many lives the charity touched.

Some read: "Kids Company was a place for all" and "There is no price on love".

There have been allegations that Kids Company was poorly run, especially in terms of its finances, prompting its high profile founder, Camilla Batmanghelidjh to quit as chief executive last month.

She blamed MPs and the media for the charity's demise, which came just days after the Government provided a £3m bailout.

The decision came despite objections from a senior civil servant and Government minister, Tim Loughton, who warned it would not prove value for money.

Officials, charities and councils have told Sky News that they are assessing how to deal with the closure of the organisation, which claimed to help 36,000 vulnerable children and young people.

It had bases in London, Liverpool and Bristol.

It is feared that councils will now face an influx of vulnerable children needing support, and indeed some local charities have warned there is a crisis.

They are feeling the pressure and are calling for greater support from the Government.