We spoke to Churchill Fellow Dr Mark Brookes, advocacy lead at Dimensions, who will soon travel to the USA for his Fellowship, where he will share his insights on hate crime reporting and its connection to learning disabilities. With over 20 years of advocacy experience, Mark emphasises the challenges individuals with learning disabilities face when reporting hate crimes and highlights the significant achievements his work has led to, as well as his hopes for improving hate crime reporting and outcomes for disabled individuals in the UK.
Rachael Mole (CF 2023) has been appointed to the Department for Transport's Disabled People Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) and looks forward to amplifying the importance of a reliable and accessible transport network for disabled entrepreneurs.
We spoke to Churchill Fellow Pete Donnelly about his journey from a life-changing accident to empowering disabled communities. Pete shared insights from his Fellowship travels to Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, where he learned how the disabled community there use their lived experience to drive social impact. He reflects on the barriers disabled innovators face and the need to give them control over the products and services they use, while highlighting his mission to influence system change in the UK.
Nicole Devlin (CF 2023) participated as a panelist at the WomenEd Northern Ireland Network's 4th Anniversary Unconference, where she spoke about the Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) programme and the role schools and communities play in shaping attitudes towards gender and violence.
Alexandra Lyons spoke at the NERUPI conference on "Building Organisational Change for Equity and Widening Participation," sharing highlights from her Churchill Fellowship.
Reflecting on the past year, I’m amazed at how quickly I’ve gone from theory to implementation. My Churchill Fellowship journey took me across the USA, where I explored the Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) programme and saw first-hand its potential to address issues like misogyny and violence against women. Now, with a successful pilot in Northern Ireland and plans to train more community advocates, I’m thrilled to see it becoming a catalyst for change.
Young people with disabilities, despite their skills and determination, face daunting barriers to employment, with job rates significantly lower than their peers. My work and personal journey, including insights from my Churchill Fellowship, highlight how small, reasonable adjustments can make all the difference in unlocking this highly qualified talent pool.
Disability Campaigner and Founder and CEO of the Music Man Project David Stanley (CF 2019) returned to the Royal Albert Hall for a ground-breaking performance and was presented with a prestigious Point of Light Award.
Katie Schwarzmann (CF 2023) recently featured on a podcast for NGO Privacy International where she discussed automated decision-making in immigration systems.
We all wish to live a life in good health, free from illness and suffering. As a nurse and a yoga teacher, this has been made abundantly clear to me over the years whether working in a prison in Glasgow, or in a clinic in Bhopal, India.
