The Gold from the Stone Foundation
The Gold from the Stone Foundation was set up as a registered charity in 2016 to support the Christmas Dinner project.
To find out how to become part of the network of Christmas Dinners, or to set up your own get in touch.
“I am not defined by darkness” Confided the night
”Each dawn I am reminded I am defined by light”
Lemn Sissay
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Co-Chair of the board of trustees. Kari is an individual with a deep commitment to supporting vulnerable children and families. Having experienced care herself from the age of 13 to 18, she gained invaluable insights into the challenges faced by young people in similar situations.
Drawing on her personal experience, Kari dedicated over a decade to fostering, providing a loving, secure home for children in need.Kari holds a degree in Psychology and as Headteacher currently serves a community that includes children with additional and complex medical needs. Kari is also an active member of the Foundation for Educational Development, advocating for innovative practices and policies that improve educational outcomes for all children.
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Trustee. Terry is a social entrepreneur, housing provider, and campaigner dedicated to improving the lives of care-experienced people. Having grown up in care himself, he has worked tirelessly to drive systemic change, ensuring that young people leaving care have better opportunities and support.
He is the co-founder of Norman Galloway Homes, a supported accommodation provider helping care leavers transition to independence, and Care Leaver Offer, a platform designed to improve opportunities for care-experienced young people. Terry is also leading the campaign to make Care Experience a Protected Characteristic, successfully securing the support of over 100 UK councils and working towards legislative change.
Terry is a trustee for NYAS and plays a key role in Westminster's first-ever Cross-Party Group designed to unite councils that have passed the motion supporting Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic. This groundbreaking group is the first of its kind to have Care Experienced People as its members, ensuring their voices are heard at the highest levels of government.
Terry has a strong background in research, development, housing, employment, policy reform, and youth advocacy.
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Trustee. Tajinder has a wealth of experience in strategic communications, partnership building and leadership. She has spent more than than two decades shaping commercial strategy and brand development in a wide range of businesses in diverse industries including retail, property, design and technology. More recently, she has moved into the not-for-profit sector and joined the leadership team at the Charlie Waller Trust,where she amplifies mental health awareness for young people and their support networks. She is passionate about inclusion and making sure marginalised voices are heard. She also serves as a Trustee at Wonderseekers, at STEM charity that believes in making science accessible to as many children as possible.
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Trustee and Treasurer. Purnima is an experienced Finance Leader with over 22 years of public sector service. Currently serving as Director of Finance at a Local Authority, and with a passion for inclusive leadership, she has skills in guiding strategic and operational financial decisions ensuring financial resilience and sustainability. Experienced in working with a wide range of stakeholders, partners and funding bodies to ensure positive and meaningful outcomes for local communities.
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Trustee.
Esther is a highly experienced development professional and has served on senior management teams at several high-profile organisations. She has devised and led strategic capital and revenue fundraising for leading high-profile arts, cultural and educational organisations including Tate, The British Museum, Baltic, Imperial College, the AA School of Architecture and Serpentine Trust. She is experienced at managing relationships at the highest level from wealthy philanthropists and collectors, to government and international business contacts.and has also acted as an ambassador for each organisation she worked for both in the UK and abroad, including across North America and Europe.
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Trustee. Tina is a creative, commercially savvy brand marketing, events, and partnerships specialist with over 20 years of experience. She set up her own consultancy in 2015 and has been helping brands grow and connect in meaningful ways ever since.
Sport has always been a huge part of her life—Tina has competed internationally in both athletics and netball and was proud to be an Olympic torchbearer not once, but twice (including London 2012!). In 2022, she got involved behind the scenes as a media volunteer at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Tina’s personal journey is a big part of who she is. Raised in the care system from just six weeks old, she’s passionate about giving back. Through her ‘Nurtured Success’ programme, she mentors young people as they step into adulthood and begin their career journeys. She’s also supported the homeless community as a volunteer mentor, offering a listening ear and practical advice.
She’s the voice behind the podcast My Life Not Yours, where she shares honest stories about life’s ups and downs—with plenty of humour, heart, and hard-earned wisdom.
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Co-Chair of the board of trustees. Angela works across the Arts and Mental Health, advising and speaking internationally on both subjects.
She sits on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention; presented the BBC BAFTA nominated documentary Life After Suicide and is a member of Tate Liverpool’s Advisory Board.
She is Co-author of the NHS70 Parliamentary award-winning Suicide Prevention Zero Suicide Alliance training; Trustee of Hospital Rooms, and has contributed to broadcast media from Channel 4 to Radio 4.
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Trustee. Alison is Director of Campus Services at The University of Manchester, leading the Hospitality, Events and Campus Services teams. Passionate about the hospitality industry, she is a proud winner of The Public Sector Catey in 2022. Alison joined the Manchester Christmas Dinner Steering Group in 2015 and continues to do so. She can be found on Christmas Day at the Manchester venue ensuring the magic happens.
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Founder & Trustee.
Lemn is a BAFTA nominated International prize winning writer. He was awarded an OBE for services to literature by The Queen of England, The Pen Pinter Prize, and in 2018 he was awarded a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister for his work in establishing The Christmas Dinner project.He is an extraordinarily prolific writer of plays, poetry, and articles, and performs and speaks publicly all over the world. His memoir, My Name Is Why, was published by Canongate in 2019. To read more about his work, head over to his website and blog here.
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Trustee. Parvinder arrived as a refugee from Uganda in 1972 and has dedicated her working life to working with young people and playing an active role as a community activist, storyteller, and Youth Worker, who qualified through Manchester Metropolitan University.
She has been a member of the first Manchester Christmas Dinner steering group in 2013 to present and now works part time at Manchester Museum. She is a Trustee of Lancashire BME Metropolitan University, More Music, Dhanakdhol and Hyndburn Cultural Services.
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Trustee. Matt Taylor is an award-winning music producer and writer, executive director of the Music Producers Guild, board member of UK Music, an Assistant Executive Councillor for High Borough Council, and a member of the Midlands Area Council for Arts Council England.
Matt grew up in children’s homes, living the typical life of a boy in care until he found refuge in music and literature and turned his life around. He left the care system at 18 to pursue a career in recording studios.
In 2022, Matt’s work on Frank Turner’s number 1 album, FTHC, saw him named Breakthrough Engineer of The Year later that year, the first careleaver to win an MPG Award. His credits include KT Tunstall, Amy Wadge, Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Julia Donaldson, and countless artists you will never have heard of.
Matt is also a writer, represented by Curtis Brown. His writing accolades include: Highly commended in the 2021 Life Writing Prize, Winner of the Spread The Word’s Scribe UK 2021, Longlisted for Fish Publishing’s Short Memoir Prize 2024 and winner of New Writing North’s A Writing Chance 24/25. He is studying for a master’s in creative writing at the University of Oxford. Matt also writes a Substack Newsletter about his time in the care system and his work in the creative industries called Underclass Hero.
Matt is a passionate advocate for those from the care system and uses his various positions and platforms to open up the creative industries. He is actively collaborating with the broader music industry to reduce barriers and open schemes so more people from the care system can seek viable careers.
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Trustee. Expert in research, evaluation and care.
In 2021 Liz joined University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in the Centre for Care Excellence in a joint clinical academic role, combining her 32 years of registered nursing expertise with her academic endevours.
Liz studied a PhD at the University of Manchester funded through a highly competitive and prestigious NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship. Her thesis reported 'how patients are risk assessed for discharge from acute hospital care'.She continued to study through a Health Education England Post Doctoral Award, at Birmingham University.
Liz was awarded a Life Fellowship of the Society for Acute Medicine in 2016 for her 'outstanding contribution to multidisciplinary staff development.' She continues to be an active member of the nurses group within the membership and presents regularly at their National and International Conferences.
The Team
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Advisor & Campaigner.
Anne-Marie Connelly is a care-experienced individual with a strong background in participation policy and advocacy. She is an active member of the National Implementation Board, where she has successfully driven significant changes.Anne-Marie also founded a group within the Department for Education dedicated to ensuring that care-experienced young people have a voice in the decisions and policies that impact their lives.
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Managing Director.
Sarah is an executive leader, coach, consultant and producer with over 25 years experience facilitating systemic and social change, through arts, culture and engagement.Previous roles include Executive Director of LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre), Senior Producer at Punchdrunk, Head of Creative Development at Contact Theatre, and Participation Producer at Southbank Centre, leading the strategic development and delivery of ambitious, complex and diverse programmes of work that transforms people’s everyday lives into something extraordinary.
She has worked with artists, young people and communities, in the criminal justice system, education, business and health settings, in the UK, Colombia, Brazil, the US and Germany.
“The Gold from the Stone Foundation is incredible! It gives support, guidance and grants to communities, who come together to change the lives of care leavers, every Christmas. The goal is to bring joy, and that’s exactly what they are doing!”
Thank you to our Funders & Supporters
