Morgan Stanley

Kids Company looks to the future with purchase of the Morgan Stanley Heart Yard

Jul 2, 2012

London —

 

Kids Company today announced the completion of the purchase of its first property, the Morgan Stanley Heart Yard in South London.  The Morgan Stanley Heart Yard will provide a permanent centre for its therapeutic work with some of the most vulnerable children it supports.  The building will be Kids Company’s first major asset, an important step in ensuring a sustainable future for charity, which relies on public, corporate and government support for its annual budget.

In early 2010, the London employees of investment bank Morgan Stanley voted to focus their fund raising efforts on a two-year charitable partnership with Kids Company.  Employees have raised £650,000 to date through a variety of fund raising activities, including Quiz Nights, Dragon Boat Races, bake sales, raffles, summer barbeques and athletic events.  Each £ raised by employees is matched by the Morgan Stanley International Foundation, Morgan Stanley’s philanthropic arm in EMEA, for a total raised to date of £1.3 million.

The new Morgan Stanley Heart Yard building will now be renovated and fitted out and is expected to open in Autumn 2012.

Kids Company Founder and Chief Executive Camila Batmanghelidjh said: “This is an incredibly important step for Kids Company  – the new building is the result of tremendous support and kindness from everyone at Morgan Stanley and will make a real difference on our ability to create positive futures for the many children who come to us for help. Owning our first building will allow us to direct additional funds to providing practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable children."

Morgan Stanley Co-President of Institutional Securities Colm Kelleher said:  “We’re delighted to be supporting Kids Company with the purchase of this building.  Giving back to the communities in which we live and work is an ingrained aspect of our culture at Morgan Stanley. Kids Company and the wonderful work that they do has truly resonated with our employees, who have not only contributed financially, but have spent many hours volunteering with the charity. We’re looking forward to helping with the renovation and fit out of the building, and to the opening in the autumn.”

Enquiries about Kids Company should be directed to:

Neil Lovell, Neil.lovell@kidsco.org.uk, 0845.644.6838

www.kidsco.org.uk

www.facebook.com/kidscompany

https://www.twitter.com/kidsco_tweets

Enquiries about Morgan Stanley should be directed to:

Sebastian Howell, Sebastian.howell@morganstanley.com, 020.7425.5324

Notes to Editors:

 

About Kids Company

Founded in 1996 by Camila Batmanghelidjh, Kids Company provides practical, emotional and education support to vulnerable children and young people.  Many of the 17,000 they support have experienced multiple trauma and neglect and live in severe deprivation.  Their work brings hope to incredibly courageous individuals and through unrelenting support they help them to lead rewarding and meaningful lives.

Kids Company’s services are delivered across two street level drop-in centres, the heart yard therapy house, over 16s education academy, and in 40 schools in deprived communities.   They put in place wraparound care for deeply traumatised children and young people who are living on the margins of society and invisible to statutory services.  Kids Company’s work ranges from providing clothing and food to therapeutic support, education, training and securing future employment. 

 

About the Morgan Stanley Heart Yard

A THERAPEUTIC SANCTUARY

Kids Company will move its therapeutic services from its existing rented building to the new, larger and better equipped centre.  From this new location in the heart of South London the charity will support the most vulnerable children who receive intensive emotional and psychological help from highly trained staff who have gained expertise through decades of learning from and listening to vulnerable and traumatised children, in order to help them and their carers overcome the unimaginable abuses they have suffered.

The services provided at this new centre will form a vital part of Kids Company’s care and include: specialised psychiatric care, child and adolescent psychotherapy and counselling, as well as dance, movement, play and art therapies. Complementary health treatments such as acupuncture, hand and facial reflexology, aromatherapy, massage, Reiki and yoga are also provided.

Once a child is strong enough to engage in education Kids Company support them all the way to university if that is their choice. Each year the charity helps many young people go on to study at colleges and universities, including Oxford, Goldsmiths College, University College London and Imperial College London.   The charity also runs an academic mentoring programme, which Morgan Stanley employees have been fully involved in, and one of Kids Company’s young people has recently been accepted on Morgan Stanley’s prestigious internship programme.

Kids Company’s work is constantly informed and refined by experience gained at street level and through a comprehensive research programme, partnering with world class researchers and academic institutions in order to advance neuroscientific understanding of the symptoms and behavioural outcomes of childhood trauma, abuse and neglect. The charity shares the benefits of its research with organisations all over the world who, aim to deliver the best possible evidence-based provisions to vulnerable children.

About Morgan Stanley

The Morgan Stanley International Foundation

The Morgan Stanley International Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Morgan Stanley in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Since its inception in 1994, the Foundation has been making contributions to charitable and non profit organisations where Morgan Stanley has a presence, focused on children’s health and education.  The Foundation supports young people aged 0-21 and strives to ensure that more children have access to quality healthcare and educational programmes, enabling them to have a more meaningful life.

Morgan Stanley has a strong tradition of supporting its charity partners, including past beneficiaries such as Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, the British Heart Foundation and Age Concern.  For further information about the Morgan Stanley International Foundation please visit www.morganstanley.com/msif.

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services.  The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 1,300 offices in 43 countries.  For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.