Camila Batmanghelidjh , 52 , started Kids Company , a charity that provides support to vulnerable young people , as a drop-in centre in Camberwell , south London in 1996 . In the 19 years since , it has grown to support 36,000 children across the country , in walk-in centres , therapy groups and more than 40 schools . She invited the Daily Mail into her office and shared the story behind some of her most sentimental possessions . Camila Batmanghelidjh , 52 , in her Kids Company office in south London . KEEP SMILING . I established Kids Company in 1996 , but we moved into this office five years ago . Our doors are open to any neglected child who feels they need us , and we now reach 36,000 across London , Bristol and Liverpool . This is my office and it 's full of the children 's artwork – I ca n't bear to let it go and they love the fact I have it around me . Like this Laughing Man picture – I just love the imagination . A lot of the art is made for the major donors whose cash keeps us going , but I thought , `` No donor 's getting this ! '' SUPER ANNIE . One of our children , Annie , has special needs but she 's extraordinary . Her mother died , her sister was shot dead , then her grandmother , who became her carer , died . She was abused and ended up on the streets as a teenager being trafficked by drug dealers . She came here and started doing incredible art like this table . Now she goes into neglected children 's houses and cleans up and then paints and decorates . This table was for a donor too but it 's going nowhere , it 's absolutely exquisite . This duck with a plastic crown is supposed to be Camila . QUACKERS ! A little girl called Ariana created the duck pond under the main table . The kids bring me plastic ducks and I use it for family therapy sessions when children want to show me what 's going on in their families , or in care . We also use it with the younger children because the table 's a bit big for them . They like to be on their stomachs , so they talk from under the table and move the ducks around . The house on the left is meant to be a castle . And the duck with the crown is supposed to be me ! A boy made this truck for Camila . FREE WISHES . This Wishing Tree was part of an exhibition we did , Angels And Demons , because we wanted to explore the way children are demonised . It 's adults ' choices that make these disturbed children . The idea was that children could hang their wishes on the tree , and I kept it because I feel I 'm propelled into action every day by them . What they want sometimes is so poignant , like ' A pair of shoes ' . A third of our kids do n't have a bed to sleep on , and one in four does n't have any furniture . THE LOVE TRUCK . This very special boy who was in foster care decided he wanted to make me a truck . It has me driving and in the back are all the glittery things I bring for the kids . But when you open the bonnet you get a surprise – he 's put a heart in it . He wanted to show that the engine of my truck is love . He was just ten and I was so touched by his profound understanding of what we 're about – transporting love from those who can give it to those who need it . The Love Truck and the Wishing Tree really move me . A teenager that Camila helped bought her this pink elephant . TO THE RESCUE . I found a teenager in a pitch-dark flat . He had no light , no fridge , no bath , no bed , just his clothes in a bin liner . He 'd had 64 care placements before the age of 16 , and social services never visited again . I burst into tears and said , `` No son of mine is going to live like this ! '' We decorated his room and got him furniture . We took him shopping and he saw this elephant and said , `` It looks like Camila ! It 's got to be in her office . '' He must have thought , `` It 's colourful , it 's big – and it 's got a big butt ! '' As told to Etan Smallman . Kids Company is asking the public to stand up for vulnerable children by signing its online petition for change at : seethechild.org .
Camila Batmanghelidjh , 52 , started Kids Company in 1996 . It now helps 36,000 children and young people across the London . She tells the story behind some of her most treasured possessions .