‘’Sheela was a total ‘life-saver’ and getting her help when my wife left me was probably the wisest thing I did. Her many valuable tips about managing and strategizing my divorce, resulted in my being able to afford my son’s school fees. She was instrumental in my achieving an amicable outcome in my divorce.’’…Mr S
I am a family lawyer (solicitor & barrister) with 20 years’ experience of family law and relationships. I am also no stranger to family break-up, having personally been through the process myself. I believe the empathy I have with divorcees, enables me to give clarity and greater insight to the complex area of family breakdown, that is hard to replicate unless one has been through the process.
Countless families struggle with the trauma and destruction of break-up and its damaging consequences on the family, if not handled well. There is much to grapple with and doing it in times of great emotional stress and devastation is very tough indeed.
Shockingly, many often make the crucial decision to break-up ‘in a vacuum’, without first getting vital information and understanding the true impact and consequences of their actions. Many commence the divorce/break-up journey ignorant and ‘blind’ to the process. Non-working partners/spouses who have been left with children, by their partner/spouse’s unilateral decisions to break-up, are the most vulnerable.
The adversarial nature of our legal system aggravates and fuels the acrimony, frequently resulting in costly bitter litigation through legal advisors, dissipating large sums of money, which many families can ill-afford.
Is it therefore surprising that many are at a loss about what to do and how to survive it?
The Many Benefits of iFamiliesuk
I set up and run iFamiliesuk, as a consultant, specifically to address the gasping need for this type of vita professional information service.
iFamiliesuk must be your first port of call if you are considering or experiencing break-up. It is a bespoke family legal information consultancy and the service is totally confidential. It was previously known as ‘Divorce & Family Law Information Service.
In a nutshell, if family break-up is inevitable because you have made a decision to leave, then I feel strongly that you must be empowered with good information to make informed decisions about your family’s future particularly at the outset, including fully understanding the outcomes and consequences of your decisions. I share this valuable information acquired from many years of working in family law. iFamilesuk services include being on hand to persuade often highly emotional clients to better manage and handle their parting and explore ways for them to plan and decide their exit strategy with the ultimate goal of an amicable resolution. This often includes managing expectations of splitting up a family’s wealth to meet their respective needs whilst assisting them to deal with often highly charged children issues, as sensitively as possible.
Whilst busy juggling work and motherhood, I have campaigned, fund-raised and actively contributed to the local and wider communities and charities locally, nationally and internationally.
I was very proud to have been selected as a Woman of Achievement by the 2009 Women of the Year Nominating Council.
Working with people and volunteers and endeavouring to make a positive contribution to better people’s lives and improve society generally is a huge privilege, which I continue to do as much as I can.
Centre for Social Justice (‘CSJ’)
My interest in the well-being of families and its impact on the health of our nation has led me to be actively involved in the area of strengthening family life in Britain today.
Working with the CSJ, I was a member of their Family Law Policy Review & Reform Committee and co-authored the report ‘Every Family Matters’, published in July 2009, containing no less than 131 recommendations covering all areas of strengthening family life in Britain.
Charities, Social Enterprises & other voluntary work
I chair the Diaspora Emerging Leadership programme, a social enterprise I co-founded with Lord Wei to help train and support young leaders from the various diaspora communities in the UK through mentoring and connecting them with business, social and other opportunities and people to create a powerful network of future leaders committed to positive national and international change; to promote global trade, and foster better cross cultural understanding, as the world embraces the opportunities and tackles the challenges that come with the global rising East and South. http://diasporaleadership.co.uk .
Politics touches virtually every aspect of our lives and it is important to participate and make our views known and heard, so that we can help shape the political landscape. Hence, I campaign and canvass in both national and local elections and talk to our local and national politicians when the opportunity presents, to discuss and feedback worries and concerns from constituents and residents in my community, whilst constantly encouraging youngsters to get involved in politics.
Through the important work carried out by the Conservative Friends of the Chinese (CFOC), we are also aiming to have the first and long overdue Chinese MP at the May 2015 General Election, which will be a landmark for the Chinese community.