News & views - The Churchill Fellowship
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Churchill Fellows work on the frontline of today’s crucial issues, developing new solutions based on global research and personal expertise. In this section you can find their latest views and advice, news, activities and events.

To connect with a Fellow, please go to their Profile page. To find related content, click the tag under each item below. To receive regular blogs and news, sign up at the foot of this page.

If you are a Fellow and would like to send us material for this section, please email communications@churchillfellowship.org to discuss what you have in mind.

Blogs & conversations

In conversation with Darren Way: From gang intervention to pioneering research unit

We spoke to Darren Way about how a Churchill Fellowship helped shape a new model of long-term youth intervention – from opening a charity with £10, two chairs, and an empty shopfront, to building Streets of Growth into a nationally recognised organisation supporting thousands of young people. Darren reflects on learning from pioneering community projects in the USA, putting that learning into practice in East London, and why he is now launching a research and policy centre to influence how youth harm prevention is understood, funded, and delivered in the UK.

By Darren Way, 5 February 2026

Blogs & conversations

In conversation with Darren Way: From gang intervention to pioneering research unit

We spoke to Darren Way about how a Churchill Fellowship helped shape a new model of long-term youth intervention – from opening a charity with £10, two chairs, and an empty shopfront, to building Streets of Growth into a nationally recognised organisation supporting thousands of young people. Darren reflects on learning from pioneering community projects in the USA, putting that learning into practice in East London, and why he is now launching a research and policy centre to influence how youth harm prevention is understood, funded, and delivered in the UK.

By Darren Way, 5 February 2026

Blogs & conversations

Mark Damazer: Stepping into the role of chair

Mark Damazer reflects on his first weeks as Chair of the Churchill Fellowship, from reading and scoring this year’s applications to engaging with the scale, diversity, and generosity of ideas coming forward from across the UK. He shares how the Fellowship connects people rooted in communities nationwide, what he has learned from seeing the process up close, and his ambitions to build on this work – including through the Activate Fund – as the Fellowship enters its next chapter.

News

Activate: New Fund Launches for Fellows

In April 2026, we will re-open the Activate Fund to award grants of up to £30,000, helping Churchill Fellows turn their brilliant Fellowship ideas and learning into practical action.

Blogs & conversations

Following the questions: a Fellow's journey

From an off-the-cuff question as a teacher to lasting change across policy and practice, Sarah Beresford traces how curiosity shaped her Churchill Fellowship and everything that followed. She reflects on learning from other countries, turning insight into action, and how asking the right questions has helped centre children’s voices in the criminal justice system.

By Sarah Beresford, 22 January 2026

Blogs & conversations

Supporting adolescent mental health in schools

Through his Churchill Fellowship, Charlie Samuda explored how schools in the USA, Canada, and South Korea are responding to the adolescent mental health crisis. Visiting over 30 organisations and schools, he examined how independent guidance, curriculum design, counselling, and safety systems can help schools support students more effectively. He reflects on what England could learn from these approaches as pressures on schools continue to grow.

By Charlie Samuda, 15 January 2026

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