Five years on from the launch of our successful Alternative Family and Foster Care campaign at the Houses of Parliament, which was made possible with grant funding from The Peter Cundill Foundation, we're looking forward to welcoming you to our exciting and heartwarming "Fostering the Future in Sri Lanka" event at the iconic Terrace Pavilion overlooking the River Thames at the Palace of Westminster where welcome champagne and exquisite hot and cold canapes will be served.
In the presence of Her Excellency Saroja Sirisena High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, our patrons Sir Anthony Seldon, former BBC Dragon Richard Farleigh and many other distinguished guests and speakers, we'll take this opportunity to give thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors, volunteers and partners who have helped to protect the most vulnerable and keep hundreds of families together by giving access to food, medication and education during recent times of hardship throughout the severe economic crisis.
We look forward to welcoming new partners who would like to join us to foster a brighter future for institutionalised and disadvantaged children in Sri Lanka, by empowering communities, reducing poverty and transforming lives so that every child can grow up in a loving family and go to school.
Saroja Sirisena, was appointed Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in March 2020
Immediately prior to this she served as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Austria with concurrent accreditation to the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations & International Organisations in Vienna.
Her posts in Sri Lanka include Director General of Public Communications & Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director General Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director General for External Relations of the Ministry of Economic Development, Director South Asia and Director Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Her overseas posts include Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, Minister of Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office, Minister Counsellor of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels, First Secretary of Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris and in Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to UNESCO.
Sir Anthony Francis Seldon is a British educator and contemporary historian. As an author, he is known in part for his political biographies of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May. He was the 13th Master (headmaster) of Wellington College, one of Britain's co-educational independent boarding schools. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham from 2015 to 2020, when he was succeeded by James Tooley. In 2009, he set up The Wellington Academy, the first state school to carry the name of its founding independent school. Before that, he was head of Brighton College.
Seldon is the author or editor of more than 45 books on contemporary history, politics and education. He was the co-founder and first director of the Centre for Contemporary British History, is the co-founder of Action for Happiness, is a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is on the board of a number of charities and educational bodies.
He is an honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street and a member of the First World War Centenary Culture Committee. Seldon was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to education and modern political history, and was recently appointed as Head of Epsom College to lead the school forward in a positive light after the sad and sudden death of Emma Pattison and her daughter Lettie.
Richard Bruce Farleigh is an Australian private investor, reality television personality and Patron of Their Future Today. He is currently a member of the Business Review Weekly Rich 200 and In 2012, he took on the role as Chancellor of London South Bank University. Farleigh featured in series 3 and 4 of BBC's Dragons' Den.
Removed from the care of his parents as a child when he was aged two, he was split from his eleven siblings and put into foster care. In High School, he excelled at maths and competitive chess and then won a scholarship to study economics at the University of New South Wales. After graduating with honours in the early 1980s, he worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia, then joined Bankers Trust Australia in Sydney when 23 as an investment banker and trader, where he stayed for ten years.
Since 2018 he has been an enthusiastic supporter of our Alternative family care and Bringing and Keeping Families Together campaigns, and helping us create our first foster care film "My Life in Foster Care - An Animated film," which won Bronze in the special People's Choice Award at the Charity Film Awards 2023, and was based on Richard's true story.