Serving the disabled is both inspiring and noble

British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott was chief guest at the regional meeting of the Cheshire organizations held recently in Colombo. Published here are extracts of his speech:

I am very pleased to be here to show support for the work of Leonard Cheshire organisation. The charity has been supporting disabled people for almost 60 years. It is active in 55 countries where it has more than 250 partner organisations; the South Asian region is one of the eight regions of the International Department of Leonard Cheshire. So you are a large and widespread organisation.

In South Asia, the work of Leonard Cheshire is directed through 36 partner organisations, managed by local communities, and reaches over 200,000 people in the community. Leonard Cheshire provides these partners with capacity building assistance, technical support and help in developing their organisations and brand building. Leonard Cheshire also helps them take forward innovative projects and regional and national level advocacy campaigns. The key themes for this work in South Asia are inclusive community service, inclusive education, economic empowerment and advocacy and campaigning. Leonard Cheshire's strategic goals of changing people's attitudes to disability and serving disabled people around the world are inspiring, noble and deserving of the support of all of us.

I think one of the most moving things in the world is seeing people overcome some kind of personal adversity and go on to achieve something that they had previously thought was beyond them.

As human beings we are all capable of changing, of learning and of developing. We are not statues made from immutable stone but composed of living tissue. But we often need help to develop in the right direction. The work Leonard Cheshire does to change attitudes to disability is helping all of us, wherever we live, to become better people-more aware, more compassionate, more thoughtful.

And, of course, the direct help you are able to give people with disabilities-particularly in education and in the workplace-will very often bring about fundamental changes for the better in these people's lives. I am sure that it must be very rewarding witnessing the improvement to the quality of the lives of the people with disabilities you are working with.

When you help bring someone with a disability from the margins of society to the mainstream, when your work restores rights and equal opportunities for individuals who have previously been discriminated against, you are benefiting not just those persons with the disabilities themselves but the whole of the society they live in.

I believe one of the ways to judge a healthy, well-rounded, civilised society is to look at how people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and abilities are treated. Your work at Leonard Cheshire is civilising us all and we should be grateful to you for it.

One of the highlights at Christmas time in Britain is revisiting Charles Dickens's great story, 'A Christmas Carol'.

The moment when Ebenezer Scrooge is transformed from a mean-spirited miser to generous benefactor, ready to use his gifts and money to help his fellowman, never fails to make me cry. The touchstone of Scrooge's transformation is his change of attitude to Tiny Tim, the son of Bob Cratchit who has a withered leg. Indeed, one of the first signs that Scrooge is becoming a more rounded and compassionate human being is his emerging concern about what may happen to Tiny Tim.

Dickens's story is not a bad metaphor for the work of Leonard Cheshire. You are in the business of transforming lives for the better. I salute your work and wish you the greatest of success in 2007 and in future years.