Residents of Barnet, Haringey and Enfield scoop six prestigious Churchill Travelling Fellowships

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust has awarded 150 travelling Fellowships across the UK.

Six of these grants, totalling almost £39,000, have been awarded to people in Barnet, Haringey and Enfield. The Fellows will travel to 11 countries between them, across three continents, where they will carry out a wide range of projects. The average length of a Fellowship is six weeks.

This year’s Barnet, Haringey and Enfield Fellows are:

• Nikhil Subbiah, a Law conversion student from Barnet, who will be travelling to India and Sri Lanka to investigate the effect of tea consumption in Britain on South Asian plantation workers, particularly with regards to discrimination faced by pickers who work in regions where they are part of an ethnic minority.
• Pamela Park, a charity Deputy Chief Executive from Cricklewood, who will be travelling to Ireland and the USA to investigate ways of improving school readiness for vulnerable children.
• Kajal Sanghrajka, an entrepreneur from Edgware, who will be travelling to Austria, Canada, Finland and the USA to study effective migrant integration through entrepreneurship.
• Patrick Duce, from Tottenham, and the Innovation and Good Practice Project Manager at Homeless Link, who will be travelling to Canada and Germany to explore approaches to supporting the accommodation and integration needs of refugees.
• Edward Douglas, a Senior Policy and Projects Officer from Muswell Hill, who will be travelling to Canada and Sweden to study approaches to regenerating public housing estates.
• Pras Gunasekera, a Designer and Researcher from Edmonton, who will be travelling to Germany, the Netherlands and Norway to research prison resettlement and rehabilitation practices using design methods.

Since its inception in February 1965, 5,400 ordinary men and women have been awarded Churchill Fellowships, from over 100,000 applicants. The ethos remains the same five decades on – for individuals to visit different parts of the world in pursuit of new and better ways of tackling a wide range of social, environmental, medical and scientific issues. The new approaches and innovative ideas with which they return are shared to benefit their local and regional communities, and, in many cases, the nation.

Before his death in 1965, Sir Winston was adamant that he did not wish to have another statue as his memorial, so he approved the setting up of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (www.wcmt.org.uk) as his national memorial and living legacy, for the benefit of future generations. Millions of grateful people gave personal contributions to the public appeal.

“Churchill Fellows are motivated and talented individuals who travel globally and return with innovative ideas and a commitment to share their findings to help others in the UK,” says Julia Weston, Chief Executive of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

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.

Notes to Editors:

In total 150 Fellowships have been awarded across the UK in 2017, an investment of over £1,400,000 in UK citizens. The Fellows will be travelling to 49 countries between them, across 6 continents. The categories for the 2018 Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships will be announced on 09 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