Patrick Kodikara obituary
Patrick Kodikara came to the UK to train as a social worker, and rose to be a director of social services in London
Patrick Kodikara came to the UK to train as a social worker, and rose to be a director of social services in London
DinahMorley
Mon 8 Feb 2021 14.51 EST
Last modified on Tue 9 Feb 2021 09.07 EST
Patrick Kodikara, who has died aged 82, spent four decades working in senior social services roles across London, and was appointed as the UK’s first black director of social services – in Camden – in 1983.
He was born in Negombo in Sri Lanka to Gregory Kodikara, a tax collector, and his wife, Gladys (nee Fonseka), a housewife. Following schooling at St Joseph’s college in Colombo he came to England in 1961 on a scholarship to study social work at the London School of Economics, after which he took up various social work posts abroad, including in Singapore, until returning to the UK in the late 60s as head of social work at Friern hospit