Richard May, a teacher from Aycliffe Village, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, hosted by Her Majesty The Queen on 18th March.
The Queen, who is patron of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, hosted the event to mark its 50th anniversary as Sir Winston’s living legacy.
Since 1965, over 5000 British citizens have been awarded Churchill Fellowships, from over 100,000 applicants, to travel overseas to study areas of topical and personal interest. The knowledge and innovative ideas they bring back are shared, for the benefit of their profession, their community, and, in lots of cases, the nation. For many people, a Churchill Fellowship proves transformational, and they go on to achieve great things – effecting positive change within society.
Richard went on his Fellowship in 2000 to Scandinavia, Germany and Holland to lead a group of young people from the North-East on the Tall Ships Race 2000. Richard has stayed in teaching and saw the experience as vital in learning to appreciate how children respond so positively to challenging environments and to adventure.
Fellows from every decade represented the Trust at the reception, as well as representatives Memorial Trust in Australia, and the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.
To mark its semi centennial, The Trust has just awarded a record number of 150 Travelling Fellowships – investing at least £1.3m in British citizens. This year’s Fellows will travel to 58 countries between them, across six continents, where they will carry out a wide range of projects. The average length of a Fellowship is 6 weeks.
Many events are being held throughout the year to celebrate Sir Winston’s life and legacy.
“We were delighted and honoured that the Queen hosted a reception to mark our anniversary year. Sir Winston’s legacy lives on through our Fellows – individuals who, like him, have vision, leadership, a passion with a purpose, and a commitment to help their fellow citizens” says Jamie Balfour, Director General of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.
