Jan. 20: A day after showing off his skills with the cricket bat, Boris Johnson bowled over a bunch of kids at Future Hope this morning. The UK secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs dropped in at the NGO for street and slum children run by fellow Briton Tim Grandage on Rowland Road.

"This is an amazing place," Johnson said, after singing Heal The World and a kiddie song, From The Tiny Ant, with the children at their Friday singing assembly. "What are your ambitions?" he asked them. "Who wants to be chief minister of West Bengal?" Scores of hands went up. "Your children have a future!" Johnson told the Future Hope team.

The 30-minute unscheduled visit came about after Grandage happened to mention to Johnson that it was a pity he couldn't visit any of the NGOs on this short trip, at a reception hosted for Johnson at Hyatt Regency yesterday evening.

"'I must come,' he said to me and there he was at Future Hope the next morning!" Grandage told Metro. He was especially touched that a man of the stature of the UK foreign secretary could manage to make time for his kids.

"He's a charismatic man and very, very good with children. And for us, it means a great deal to have him visit us, it helps our credibility, it helps us in terms of fundraising," Grandage added. Johnson also flagged off Future Hope's 30th year celebrations on Friday.

"What a lovely man Boris Johnson is! He's so engaging and clearly loved speaking to the children, who in turn were totally charmed by him," said Sujata Sen, the chief executive of Future Hope. Bruce Bucknell, the British deputy high commissioner, accompanied Johnson.