Prestigious Churchill Fellowships awarded to people working in Enterprise

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust has just awarded 14 Travelling Fellowships to people working in Enterprise.

This is the first year of a three year partnership with The Rank Foundation. An investment of over £95,000 has been made in people in this field travelling in 2017. They will travel to 13 countries between them, across five continents.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and The Rank Foundation see enterprise as a positive force in society that creates employment and enables financial sustainability and social good. Enterprise increases the opportunity for organisations to improve their double bottom line, an important development in relation to measuring financial performance alongside social impact.

This year’s award winners are:

• Lindsey Gilbert-Crouch, an Entrepreneurship Development Specialist from Walthamstow, who will be travelling to Burma and Columbia to explore the role of entrepreneurs in creating more cohesive and inclusive societies.
• Kerry Astin, a Youth Work Development Director from Stockwell, who will be travelling to the USA to explore approaches to maintaining sustainable youth work organisations.
• Dr Susanne Burns, an arts and cultural sector consultant from Sunderland, who will be travelling to Australia and the USA to study models of supporting artists whose work enables others to participate in the arts.
• Catherine Makin, a Project Manager at Bristol City Council, who will be travelling to Canada, Mexico and the USA to research innovation and entrepreneurialism in public sector organisations.
• Anne MacDonald, a policy worker from Inverness, who will be travelling to Canada and the USA to investigate new models of business that deliver social and economic impact.
• Kelly Shaw, from Bethnal Green, and Design and Production Manager at a community arts charity, who will be travelling to Bangladesh, Denmark, India, Norway and the USA to investigate programmes supporting vulnerable women into employment.
• Natalie Tucker, a Project Manager from Brixton, who will be travelling to Canada, Columbia and the USA to research how businesses can benefit from collaborations with charities.
• Patricia Marks, from Langport, Somerset, and the Managing Director of a social enterprise, who will be travelling to Australia and the USA to research programmes which support people back into education or employment.
• Lucia von Bredow, from Paddington, and Programme Manager for Genomics at the Epilepsy Society, who will be travelling to Canada and the USA to investigate models which harness social entrepreneurship to ensure that medical research reaches patients quickly.
• Nicola Rickard, a charity Fundraising and Publicity Manager from Plymouth, who will be travelling to the USA to research alternative funding models for marine science research.
• Annmarie Lewis, from Sydenham, and the Founding Director of an award winning social enterprise, who will be travelling to the USA to study entrepreneurship programmes aimed at preventing offending among high risk groups.
• Seva Phillips, a charity Fund Manager from West Ham, who will be travelling to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA to research blended finance in social impact investing.
• Matt Fountain, from Glasgow, and Managing Director of the social enterprise Freedom Bakery, who will be travelling to Italy and the USA to research social enterprises employing disadvantaged people.
• Kajal Sanghrajka, an entrepreneur from Edgware, who will be travelling to Austria, Canada, Finland and the USA to study effective migrant integration through entrepreneurship.

Julia Weston, Chief Executive of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, said:

“Churchill Fellows travel globally and return with innovative ideas and a commitment to sharing their findings to help others in the UK. Our Fellows’ projects in this field recognise enterprise as a positive force in society that produces financial sustainability alongside social impact. By observing outstanding organisations and projects overseas, they will return to the UK able to make improvements in their own work.”

David Sanderson, Chief Executive of The Rank Foundation, said:

“We are delighted to be working with the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to provide opportunity for people to explore the potential that enterprise can bring to the social sector, to think in a more entrepreneurial way about how they deliver their services or fund their organisations and for those working in commercial organisations as they look to embed or integrate social benefit across their working practices.”

Fellow’s Case Study In 2013, Roger Warnock travelled to Brazil and the USA to study entrepreneurship programmes in disadvantaged areas, and the crucial role local community based organisations play in assisting economic development in these communities. He aimed to understand how local people, particularly disadvantaged individuals, are encouraged to become entrepreneurs, and to observe different models for incentivising and supporting such individuals to participate in wealth creation. Since he has returned to the UK, Roger has worked in partnership with another Churchill Fellow, Paul McMinn, to form a management consultancy specialising in social enterprise with the aim of assisting vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and groups to become economically viable and self-sufficient. In June 2015 Roger and Paul launched The Book Reserve, a new social enterprise. A café and second-hand book business, The Book Reserve will employ up to 36 young parents over the next three years who have had contact with the justice system.

Ends

Notes to Editors

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

In total 150 Fellowships have been awarded across the UK in 2017, an investment of over £1.4 million in UK citizens. The Fellows will be travelling to 49 countries between them, across six continents, where they will carry out a wide range of projects, designed to benefit their communities and professions in the UK. The average length of a Fellowship is six weeks.

Churchill Fellows come from all over the UK and from many different backgrounds. They must be UK citizens aged 18 or over, but no qualifications are required. What Fellows share is a passion to make a difference and a desire to share their passion to inspire others.

The categories for the 2018 Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships will be announced on Tuesday 9^th May 2017. See www.wcmt.org.uk for more details.

We have many examples of Fellows’ stories of achievement from 1965 to the present day. If you would like one from a particular year or location, or would like to interview a Fellow, please contact The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Press Office on 020 7799 1660, or email press@wcmt.org.uk

The Rank Foundation

The Enterprise category is the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust’s second joint partnership with The Rank Foundation. The partnership aims to support enterprise linked with social impact and will fund Fellowships from 2017 to 2019.