The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Board is honoured to announce the 2025 Churchill Fellowship and Churchill McNeish Writers’ Fellowship recipients.
“The eleven Fellowships cover an impressive range of subjects, including traditional Māori weaving, historic house operations, oral health, elder care, driver licensing, online harm prevention, and communication and literacy skill development,” says David Ivory, the Trust’s Chair.
“Breaking down barriers to communication is a key theme for the Fellowships.
I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the recipients, who will bring valuable knowledge and experiences back to New Zealand and I look forward to seeing the positive impact it creates.”
2025 Churchill Fellowships
Alana Ruakere
Ngāmotu New Plymouth
For travel to the Netherlands, Norway, and Canada to study Dementia Villages as a model for New Zealand multi-generational living and elder care in the future.
Chantelle Griffiths
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
For travel to the United Kingdom and Europe to study processes and systems that will support revitalising braille and tactile literacy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Cherie Jacobson
Te Wanganui-a-Tara Wellington
For travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland to study historic house museum operations and their relevance to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Claudine Crabtree
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
For travel to Singapore, Scotland, and England to study the impact school libraries are having on student literacy and their applicability in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Grace Brown
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
For travel to London to explore technology solutions that break down barriers to communication for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and neurodivergent communities.
Heather Lear
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
For travel to Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia to investigate community-based assistance for families to help them support their children’s early communication and language development.
Jessica Buchanan
Rotorua
For travel to the United Kingdom to examine methods of delivering healthcare and training to remote areas without specialist oral health services.
Karla Sanders
Alexandra
For travel to the United Kingdom and the United States to engage with leading organisations that involve young people as partners in creating positive online experiences and addressing online harm, including cyberbullying.
Lisa Sheehan
Kirikiriroa Hamilton
For travel to Europe to examine and record Kaitaka Huaki in museum collections to reclaim a vital part of traditional Māori weaving techniques and disseminate them to art communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Wendy Robertson
Tauranga
For travel to Australia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland to study licensing processes, driver education, enforcement controls, and to improve licensing accessibility.
2025 Churchill McNeish Writers Fellowship
Pennie Hunt
Ōtepoti Dunedin
For travel to Tasmania to extend her creative non-fiction writing.