Paying it forward 50 years on - sharing the joys of a Churchill Fellowship

It was a chance conversation on a hillside in North Yorkshire with a former Churchill Fellow, that set one person off on their Fellowship journey. Not that unusual perhaps, except that there is almost 50 years between their Fellowships and their respective areas of interest - shipbuilding and stroke physiotherapy - couldn’t be more different. But the common factor, the passion to make a difference in their respective fields is where the Fellowship came in.

Victoria Butler (CF 2017) and Frank Grant (CF 1968/9) live in the same village and Victoria’s parents and Frank have been hill walking companions for many years. It was during one of their hikes that Victoria’s parents mentioned that she was working in stroke physiotherapy and wanted to improve outcomes for stroke patients. Frank suggested that it sounded like a project that would be of interest to the Churchill Fellowship and offered to talk to Victoria to explain more about it. The pair met up, the seed was planted and with Frank’s help, Victoria explored the opportunity and decided to apply.

With six decades between their respective Fellowships, we asked Frank and Victoria to explain what becoming a Churchill Fellow meant to them.

Frank started by saying that on a professional level, his findings from studying how the Japanese built ships in the 60s gave him a better understanding of what could be achieved by shipyards back in the UK. On a personal level, the Fellowship gave him the learning opportunity of travelling round the world. Frank spent twelve weeks in Japan, but he also spent a further month getting there and returning home, visiting India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Hawaii and the USA along the way. For much of that time he was essentially on his own and learned much from being exposed to different cultures.

For Victoria, the Fellowship enabled her to put her findings into practice to change ideas and aid stroke survivors’ recovery. On a professional level, it has also equipped her with confidence to progress in her career. Her Fellowship helped her develop project management skills which resulted in her undertaking a population health fellowship (funded by NHS Health Education England) and she has recently taken on the role of stroke therapy clinical team lead. She agrees with Frank that from a personal perspective, her Churchill Fellowship has given her the opportunity not only to travel to Australia and New Zealand but to experience these countries from a different perspective.

They both would encourage unreservedly anyone thinking of applying for a Fellowship today for the opportunities that it offers, to travel, to learn and to pass on to others what has been learned. With Victoria adding: "I would say apply for the Fellowship, it opens up the world to you and you become a member of a diverse and supportive fellowship, once you are a Churchill Fellow you will always be a Churchill Fellow. I will forever be grateful to Frank for telling me about the opportunity and hope I can also encourage others to apply."