By Mike Spencer, 2025
Governance and public provision
About this theme
This theme covers all aspects of the functioning and services of the state, including public services, governance and political processes, rule of law and international relations. It is one of the eight universal themes which form our grantmaking framework and allow us to address every aspect of society. Fellows’ stories
During her Churchill Fellowship in Ghana, Dr Chiedza Ikpeh explored how teacher wellbeing grows through community, adaptability, and shared responsibility. Speaking with teachers, she how collective approaches help educators thrive, even in challenging conditions. Witnessing this resilience reshaped how she understands teaching and what allows careers to be sustained over time, and Chiedza is now bringing this learning into her research and development work with teachers across the UK.
By Chiedza Ikpeh, 2026
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, 2026
Ian Nuttall (CF 2011) has been awarded the Fleur Lombard Bursary, supporting travel to New Zealand in 2026.
By Ian Nuttall, 2025
Sharon McPherson (CF 2023) has continued to build on her Churchill Fellowship through a series of major research and practice initiatives in kinship care.
By Sharon McPherson, 2025
Dr Chiedza Ikpeh (CF 2025) appeared on BBC Radio Merseyside in conversation with Ngunan Adamu to discuss her Churchill Fellowship research and wider work on education, wellbeing, and equity.
By Chiedza Ikpeh, 2025
By Matthew Peters, 2024
By Chiedza Ikpeh, 2025
We spoke to Churchill Fellow Sophia Alexandra Hall about how her Fellowship helped shape her trauma-informed interviewing toolkit, now used across major UK newsrooms. Drawing on her lived experience and 50 interviews in the USA, she reflects on the need for safer, more empowering media practices for care-experienced and other under-represented people. She also shares how this work has grown through training, conference speaking, and an expanding public platform at Big Issue.
By Sophia Alexandra Hall, 2025
Sophia Alexandra Hall (CF 2023) featured in an episode of the Trauma-Informed Conversations podcast, exploring trauma-informed storytelling.
By Sophia Alexandra Hall, 2025