Big names back the call as supporters go to court this week

Coldplay is the latest big name calling for a watchdog report into Kids Company to be overturned.

In a letter signed by the band and a host of celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, they say the report was inaccurate, unjust, and raised “serious concerns about regulatory ethics and impartiality”.

The Charity Commission findings concluded there had been “mismanagement in the administration of the charity” against founder Camilla Batmanghelidjh and trustees.

Batmanghelidjh died in January 2024, having won permission to challenge the outcome.

The letter comes ahead of a court hearing later this week where supporters are attempting to quash the findings.

Kids Company was seen as groundbreaking in its support for thousands of traumatised children caught up in poverty and gang violence in London, many of whom had been disregarded by statutory authorities.

It caught the attention of celberities and politicians alike with many believing Batmanghelidjh was the victim of a smear campaign.

However, allegations of sexual abuse were proven to be unfounded and supporters said the organisation had been hampered by increasing pressure on its services among dwindling grant support.

Other signatories of the letter include film director Stephen Frears, psychotherapist Susie Orbach, the poet Lemn Sissay, former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and former BBC director-general Tony Hall.

They join a roster of academic experts and senior psychotherapists, journalist and peer Rosie Boycott, chair of School of African and Oriental Studies Lord Hastings, and writer and ex-Chumbawamba musician Alice Nutter.