Series: The Q&A

Q&A: Camila Batmanghelidjh

My guiltiest pleasure? Cutting up other people's curtains and sofa coverings to wear
Camila Batmanghelidjh
'My greatest fear? Beige.' Photograph: David Yeo

Camila Batmanghelidjh was born in Tehran in 1963. She was educated at Sherborne Girls' School and Warwick University and became a psychotherapist. In her early 20s, she started her first charity, The Place To Be, a counselling service for schoolchildren. In 1996, she founded Kids Company in six converted railway arches in London, and in 2006 her book, Shattered Lives: Children Living With Courage And Dignity, was published. She lives in London.

When were you happiest?
In a swimming pool that didn't have anyone else in it.

What is your greatest fear?

What is your earliest memory?
Being in a cot and thinking, "Bloody hell, I need to get out of here!"

Which living person do you most admire, and why?
The children I work with, because they are extraordinary in their ability to forgive those who have abused them and on whose love they relied.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience with thick people.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Following procedure as a substitute for honouring the truth.

Where would you like to live?
In a treehouse.

What would your super power be?
Melting people with love.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Must I?

Who would play you in the film of your life?
Victoria Beckham (inflated).

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I so underestimated the destructive powers of middle management.

What is your most unappealing habit?
Mind reading.

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
Birthday suit.

What is the worst thing anyone's said to you?
An educational psychologist assessed me, then called in my mother and said I would never achieve and that she should send me to a cookery school.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Cutting up other people's curtains and sofa coverings to wear.

What do you owe your parents?
The ability to be myself.

One and a half million children are abused and neglected in Britain every year. We continue to fail them by not stepping in to protect when a carer recycles their own childhood maltreatment. Adults and children who have been harmed are profoundly humiliated; an apology would help them regain dignity.

What has been your biggest disappointment?
I don't get disappointed; I go with the flow.

When did you last cry, and why?
I frequently cry when the kids talk through their life experiences.

What is the closest you've come to death?
I was born two and a half months early, I was 1kg and I wasn't put in an incubator because they thought I was going to die anyhow.

What keeps you awake at night?
Lack of money for Kids Company.

What song would you like played at your funeral?
A rap song chosen by the kids.

Tell us a secret:
There's a hedgehog living under my turban.

Follow Rosanna Greenstreet on Twitter:

Today's best video

Today in pictures

More from The Q&A

Public figures supply the answers to our searching questions