James Partridge 30th October 1952 – 16th August 2020
R.I.P.
It was with very great sadness that we learnt of his death on 16th August 2020.
James was truly a giant among men:
He was the warmest human being imaginable: fun and charismatic to be with, and with endless empathy for those facing misfortune.
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are sometimes asked, by journalists for example, to provide photos of people with
disfigurements for a piece of media coverage – which we always find tricky partly
because of confidentiality issues and what happens to these images once they become
public property. But the main reason is that it is very difficult to capture the
humanity of someone in a static, face-
I want to use this analogy to describe how I see our work in disfigurement in the
coming century: I want us to bring this sense of 3-
What we are saying that anyone whose face is marked or scarred or different is and
can be a vibrant, buzzing personality whose unique facial features are an integral
part of them just as much as anyone else’s face is (but no more than that). We want
a society which respects and understands disfigurement and has grown beyond judging
people on their looks, that sees no reason for them to be looked at oddly or treated
unfairly. And we want a health care system which empowers people to adjust to their
different looks so that they can manage the sometimes bizarre, sometimes uncomfortable
reactions of other people and stand up to the barrage of propaganda that asserts
that looks are all that count… Disfigurement does pose problems but they are do-
As I look at what Changing Faces is today, I am proud of what we have already achieved in the last 8 years but realistic about how much more we have to do… I think the individual and families who come into contact with us feel that Changing Faces is a microcosm of this future society I have in mind – everyone is welcomed as vital human beings full of talents and energy, every health professional or teacher is encouraged to see disfigurement not as a disaster but as a challenge which they can help their patients overcome, and every media contact and member of the public is challenged (as our new logo says) “to change the way you face disfigurement”.
I hope that all of you here tonight have felt that vibrant charge from seeing the
light – of seeing disfigurement in a grown-