Churchill Fellows offer their views and advice on topical issues, based on global research and UK activities.
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 blog alerts, sign up at the foot of this page.
If you are a Fellow and would like to write a blog for us, please email digital@churchillfellowship.org to discuss the topic you have in mind.
The Churchill Fellowship is launching a new programme – Building a Society that Cares – which seeks to find ways in which care can be harnessed to humanise services, build resilience and connection to communities, and reimagine how we prevent and address our biggest societal challenges.
The Churchill Fellowship is launching a new programme – Building a Society that Cares – which seeks to find ways in which care can be harnessed to humanise services, build resilience and connection to communities, and reimagine how we prevent and address our biggest societal challenges.
We spoke to Churchill Fellow Elizabeth Carrington about her 1973 Fellowship, which took her to Hungary, Switzerland, and Italy to explore new physiotherapy techniques for children with cerebral palsy and neurological disorders. She reflected on how the experience shaped her lifelong international career – from India to Yemen to the World Health Organization – and why she still feels so connected to the Fellowship more than 50 years on.
By Elizabeth Carrington, 10 July 2025
The inspiration for a new Churchill Fellowship programme – Making Space for the Arts – is a desire to strengthen opportunities for widespread artistic participation, innovation, and creativity, which take place beyond the walls of a cultural institution.
Sue Sharples travelled to the USA and Canada to explore new approaches to preventing sexual harm among adults with a learning disability – including linking self-advocacy skills to sexual rights education and using trauma-informed practice. Since returning, she has co-authored a training pack for social care staff and worked with learning disabled colleagues in Lancashire to develop a new sexual self-advocacy resource. Grounded in the belief that people should be their own first line of defence, it’s already helping people feel safer, better informed, and more in control.
By Sue Sharples, 19 June 2025
I grew up without the words to talk about suicide – and didn’t speak about my own bereavement until my forties. My Fellowship set me on a path to change that, taking me to India and Canada to explore suicide prevention in communities like my own. Since then, I’ve joined a global network of preventionists, trained in early intervention, and started sharing what I’ve learned – from working with therapists to leading workshops with young people to help open up conversations.
By Anoo Bhalay, 19 June 2025
We spoke to Churchill Fellow Emily Jenkins about how dance can support women living with and beyond cancer. Emily shared how her Fellowship travels across Europe and the USA gave her space to connect with others working at the intersection of dance and health – and how those insights have helped shape her next steps. She reflects on the growth of her organisation, Move Dance Feel, and her mission to train other artists to deliver dance in cancer care, creating a wider community of practice that can reach more people in need of support.
By Emily Jenkins, 5 June 2025
As part of my Fellowship, I travelled across rural regions in the USA, Canada, and Australia, connecting with experts and victim-survivors to explore how to improve safety and achieve equity. My learning and earlier conversations with Rhianon Bragg – a survivor whose story reveals deep cracks in our justice system – helped shape my focus post-Fellowship, laying the groundwork for a new social enterprise to raise the status of rural domestic abuse in public policy and support more coordinated, realistic responses.
By Judith Vickress, 29 May 2025
Forty years on, my Churchill Fellowship to Japan to study traditional handmade paper still shapes how I think, create, and teach. It sparked a lifelong journey exploring paper, place and identity – one that continues to evolve as I balance creativity with care, and remain rooted in community and resilience.
By Cas Holmes, 22 May 2025
Exploring how European funding could support community development took me to Austria, Belgium, and Spain for my Fellowship – a journey that continues to shape my work today. That experience helped build momentum in my career and deepened my belief in the power of backing people and places to realise their potential.
By Susan Waterson, 15 May 2025
Visiting cities across the East Coast of the USA, I explored how parent-led organising is creating change in education – from winning funding for school buildings to building trust between families and institutions. My Churchill Fellowship is now helping shape how we grow our Parent Power programme at The Brilliant Club, embedding lessons on community, leadership and long-term impact.
By Jimmy Pickering, 8 May 2025
Visiting cities across the East Coast of the USA, I explored how parent-led organising is creating change in education – from winning funding for school buildings to building trust between families and institutions. My Churchill Fellowship is now helping shape how we grow our Parent Power programme at The Brilliant Club, embedding lessons on community, leadership and long-term impact.
By Jimmy Pickering, 8 May 2025
