Children’s charity Adoption Matters welcomes entrepreneur, Dez Derry, as Charity Ambassador

Driven by the rate of children entering the care system and waiting for adoption and fostering, Dez joins the charity at a crucial time.

Dez set up a specialist digital agency named mmadigital in 2012, which specialised in finding customer acquisition leads for the legal sector and he oversaw its transformation to Blume and its acquisition by Sun Capital in 2022.

In addition, Dez is also an investor in a number of businesses including TravelSeen, a social-first travel company, Fight Division, a social media platform for combat spots, and LeBlanq, a company creating travel experiences that combine a love of cycling with fine dining in some of the most beautiful destinations across the world.

Dez’s passion in raising awareness of Adoption Matters stems from the fact that he was also fostered and then adopted.

Dez shared:

“My Mum and Dad saved 3 Indian boys’ lives when they fostered and then adopted me and my two brothers. We were damaged and broken but that didn’t stop them. We came from Indian heritage and Sikh religion; it was very complicated. No one else would take all 3 of us on! It was the late 80’s when white people didn’t have brown children. Money was tight. There were so many reasons not to take us on, but they did! I’ll forever be so proud and so grateful to them.

“I owe them everything. I think the best way to show them just how grateful I am is to help other young people in care find parents like them. Becoming a charity Ambassador for Adoption Matters and Foster Care Matters will help me do just that.

“I am inspired by the work they do and excited about the projects we have planned.”

Dez is keen to highlight the positive impact adoptive and foster parents can have on a young person’s life and he kicked off 2025 with an initiative to help raise awareness and funds for the charity by sharing his story on LinkedIn – this resulted in a very generous donation of £2,500 and Dez is also attempting to raise further funds with the offer of some amazing sports tickets for the highest bidder through his LinkedIn page.

Adoption Matters Chief Executive Officer, Susy White commented:

"We were blown away when Dez first contacted us and shared his story, what an amazing gesture from someone who has had such a fantastic experience of what adoption can do for children. His generosity, not only with helping our fundraising but also giving his time as our new charity ambassador, has humbled us and we cannot wait for the many exciting plans ahead for 2025 and beyond.”

To find out more about the charity visit: www.adoptionmatters.org