Camila Batmanghelidjh blames media and Whitehall for closure of Kids Company

The charity warned that such services “impact on tens of thousands of vulnerable children, young people and families”, of which many “depend on the charity for practical and emotional support”.

Richard Curtis, founder of The Root Of It, an organisation which works to raise standards in special needs services in schools, said he is attending the emergency meeting “to discuss what the next steps are”.

He said: “It’s about putting in services that are going to help these children so they are not abandoned”.

After the doors closed for the last time, graffiti above the brass Kids Company sign in Bristol read “RIP” with a cross underneath and “The best place there was” written to one side.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said “there have been questions raised about some of the financial management of the organisation” but stressed the charity has done important work for troubled children.

“I believe in what Kids Company has done”.

Esther Keller, director of services for Kids Company in Bristol, said: “I feel bad sadness for the children and young people we have been working with for the past three years in Bristol”.

The Government has said it is working with local authorities to ensure the young people affected are looked after.

The meeting comes as Ms Batmanghelidjh claimed elements of the Government had turned on her because she is “outspoken” about child protection and knows about high-profile sex abuse. “Right now our priority is trying to secure a future for these children”.

“There has been a culture of suppressing evidence of extensive childhood maltreatments by very powerful people”. I continually wrote to David Cameron, to George Osborne, to try and get a solution throughout the years.

The charity had a string of celebrity backers including rock band Coldplay and artist Damien Hirst, and was lauded by Mr Cameron as the embodiment of the Big Society.

The charity said it had folded because it could not find a sustainable source of income, not poor financial management as had been alleged.

It shut after allegations of financial mismanagement and a police investigation into allegations that incidents involving young people using the charity were not passed on to police.

Interim Labour leader Harriet Harman said: “The Government must publish a full report showing what funding decisions they have made in regard to Kids Company, and on what basis”.

He praised Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Letwin for backing the continuation of funding despite the reservations of civil servants.

She said: “It’s trial by media”.

She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “If we were so dysfunctional, why did the Government hand over £7 million worth of taxpayers’ money?” “It’s so destructive to these children”.

Crowds gathered outside Kids Company premises to protest at the closure, with many people visibly upset at the news.

A teenager has boasted that she and pals used cash handouts from Kids Company to buy drugs.

She wrote: “It seems clear that ministers’ concerns have been repeatedly overturned by Number 10 and the closure of this organisation shows that the Government’s strategy to support it has failed”.

Ms Batmanghelidjh took issue with the suggestion that Kids Company had run out of money because it was poorly managed.

Kids Company said in a statement it had “closed due to lack of funding”.

The charity told the BBC: “Kids Company’s July payroll was two days later than usual whilst we waited for a grant from the Cabinet Office to arrive”.

Those in receipt of support by the charity in recent months will not be required to seek help from their local authorities and charitable organisations in their local areas, including Barnardo’s and the NSPCC.

“There has been so much briefing behind the scenes about which we have no awareness”.