The Australian High Commissioner will be guest of honour at the Cirencester and City of Bathurst Community Friendship evening at the town's parish church this Wednesday.

The Hon Alexander Downer AC (pictured) was appointed Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in March 2014.

Mr Downer has had a long and distinguished political career in Australia. He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1976 and served at the Australian Embassy in Belgium before moving into politics. Elected to the Federal Parliament in 1984, he held this seat until his retirement from Parliament in July 2008. He served as Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, from 1996 to 2007, making him Australia's longest-serving Foreign Minister.

The community evening sees Cirencester's voluntary and local organisations come together to hear about plans for the initiative and to suggest ways of getting involved. Part of the plan is to set up a fund that will pay for a young person from the area, who would not usually have the chance, to travel to Bathurst NSW and experience a life-changing opportunity - be it through work, study, sports or in the voluntary sector.

Shirley Alexander, Cirencester Community Development Trust (CCDT) chair, said: "We are honoured to have the commissioner come and visit Cirencester. We are delighted to be playing a central role in this initiative and we are urging community groups, clubs, organisations and businesses to get in contact so that we can add them to our guest list for the evening."