Funded Travelling Fellowships seek people involved in the Environment, Conservation and Biodiversity
In 2015, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust will be investing £1.2 million in British citizens, by awarding a record number of 150 Travelling Fellowships, in order to mark its 50th anniversary.
This will directly support British citizens who want to travel overseas to gain knowledge, experience and best practice to benefit others in their UK professions and communities, and society as a whole.
As part of a new joint partnership with The Frank Jackson Foundation we will be awarding 2 Travelling Fellowships in the Environment and Sustainable Living category to promote Environmental education and public awareness of Environmental issues. The application process is now open.
We would be very interested in applications for projects covering the environment, conservation and biodiversity, the countryside and food production. People looking at adaptation and environmental resilience to climate change, and market approaches to environmental issues, such as biodiversity offsetting, are also encouraged to apply.
In 1987 Professor Steve Ormerod was a young academic leading a team assessing acid rain effects in Wales, when he set off on a Fellowship tour of some of the worst affected areas of the USA and Canada. During the 1980s, acid rain was a major environmental concern. Rivers and lakes were affected over large areas of Britain, Europe and North America, and huge efforts were being made to understand and resolve the problem. Having witnessed at first hand the regeneration of acidified rivers, he returned to the UK enthused by the possibility of tackling not only this, but also other major environmental problems. The subsequent landscape-scale experiments at Llyn Brianne in Wales are some of the longest-running in the world. In the 25+ years since Steve's Fellowship, this unique project has contributed to our understanding of other key environmental issues, including climate change. Today, Steve combines the role of a Professor at Cardiff University with that of an advisor to business, government bodies and environmental charities. In 2012 he was proudly elected as Chairman of Council of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds – Europe’s largest wildlife charity. Steve believes passionately in the RSPB’s mission to save nature, to halt biodiversity loss, and to pass on to our children a world that is healthy to live in.
Amongst those travelling this year is Joe Alsop, a nature reserve warden from Winster near Matlock in Derbyshire, travelling to five countries across Europe to investigate management techniques to minimise the effects of Ash dieback.
Successful applicants must demonstrate the commitment, the character and the tenacity to travel globally in pursuit of new and better ways of tackling a wide range of current challenges facing the UK, and upon their return work to transform and improve aspects of today’s society.
A travelling sabbatical for people with the drive, determination and desire to help others, can further their leadership and role model abilities.
Employers often also see great benefits with employees returning with new knowledge, skills and ideas to share with others within the organisation.
Applications are judged purely on project merit, and these opportunities are available to UK residents over the age of 18, of any ethnicity, religion, or gender.
Successful applicants will receive an average Fellowship grant of over £6000, covering return airfare, daily living costs, insurance and travel within the countries being visited, for approximately 6 weeks overseas.
Notes to Editors
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was established shortly after Sir Winston’s death in 1965, as his national memorial and living legacy. Since then it has awarded over 4820 Travelling Fellowships.
The application process for travel in 2015 is now open, and there are 11 varied categories in which people can apply.
Churchill’s beliefs and passions are still living on through our Fellows – who are remarkable yet ordinary individuals, representing a wide range of backgrounds, qualifications, interests and professions, but sharing the desire to do something for the improvement of British life and their fellow man.
The deadline for the 2015 applications is 5pm on 23rd September 2014.
In total 137 Fellowships were awarded in the UK in 2014, with grant awards totaling £876,540. The Fellows are currently travelling to 52 countries between them, across 6 continents, carrying out a wide range of projects.
To maximise the impact of our Fellowships we have developed partnerships with other organisations, focused on specific areas of concern and relevance for the UK today. Lessons learnt from overseas travel are effectively coordinated and disseminated, and incorporated into best practice in the UK for the benefit of others in similar communities and professions.
The Frank Jackson Foundation will jointly fund two Fellowships to promote Environmental education and public awareness of Environmental issues. The Frank Jackson Foundation is a grant making Trust that was established by the late Mr Frank Jackson M.B.E., a well known businessman and philanthropist from Woodbridge in Suffolk. The principal objectives of the Foundation, on which the majority of our funds are expended, are to benefit, through education, the disadvantaged, and to support world-class environmental research.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust: 020 7799 1660 www.wcmt.org.uk
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