Active Gloucestershire’s Sarah Haden receives prestigous Churchill Fellowship Medallion for systems thinking work to address physical activity inequalities

04th September 2024 | Lizzie Homer | About we can move, Celebrating success, Community impact, Gloucestershire, Innovative strategies, Measurement, evaluation and learning, News

Sarah Haden, Director of People and Partnerships at Active Gloucestershire received a prestigious Churchill Fellowship medallion having successfully completed her research into the how systems thinking can be used with communities to address physical activity inequalities.

Sarah was one of 122 people being honoured at an Award Ceremony held in London on 3rd September 2024.

Jeremy Soames, Chair of the Churchill Fellowship, said: “We were delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Churchill Fellows at our 2024 Award Ceremony. The occasion marked the successful completion of 122 Fellows’ international research and reports – forming an impressively substantial body of work. More importantly, it illustrates the significant impact being made in communities and sectors through the ideas, dedication, and energy that are hallmarks of every Churchill Fellow – many congratulations to all recipients. There is no doubt that the Churchill Fellowship owes its success to the remarkable work of Churchill Fellows.”

Sarah felt an immense degree of gratitude and pride in receiving her Churchill Fellowship award. To undertake her Fellowship, Sarah travelled to Victoria, Australia in early 2023 for six weeks to spend time immersed with systems facilitators, communities and evaluators to understand how these approaches that have been developed by Deakin University in Victoria and then applied across Australia to support health, wellbeing and obesity could be applied in the UK to address wider systemic barriers that reduce physical activity levels across a population.

Upon returning from her Fellowship, Sarah has shared her learning on applying a dynamic systems thinking approach with communities through a range of experiential learning sessions with Gloucestershire based systems leaders including the Integrated Care Board, Public Health teams, Local Authorities and other Active Gloucestershire colleagues.

In addition to these learning sessions, Sarah was invited to share her Fellowship findings and wider work on national podcast ‘The Conveners’, she has led the implementation of the dynamic systems thinking approach with three test-bed projects within Gloucestershire. Sarah is also a member of an international community of practice for the approach and she has recently been appointed as a consultant in facilitating this dynamic systems thinking approach with a Gloucestershire based local authority.

A community of over 4,000 changemakers, Churchill Fellows work on the frontline of today’s crucial issues, developing new solutions based on global research and personal expertise. From aged 18 into their 80s and from every corner of all four nations, Churchill Fellows have achieved amazing things, from becoming community leaders and charity founders to embedding new services and campaigning for action in fields from climate change to education, technology to the arts.

Sarah Haden said “I feel an immense sense of pride in receiving my Churchill Fellowship award. I’m also very grateful for the support from my friends, family and colleagues at Active Gloucestershire, as well as the Churchill Fellowship and UK Active who funded this opportunity’

Tom Beasley, Chief Executive at Active Gloucestershire said “We’re very proud of the work that Sarah has completed as part of her Winston Churchill Fellowship. The Fellowship has not only provided a once in a lifetime opportunity for Sarah, but also the chance to learn about the work being undertaken at Deakin University and to then apply the approach in Gloucestershire. We’re grateful for the opportunity that the fellowship has provided and look forward to seeing more of the impact over the coming months.”

Sarah Haden at the Churchill Fellowship 2024 Award Ceremony on 3 September 2024

Information about the Churchill Fellowship
A Churchill Fellowship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, open to all UK adult citizens, to lead the change they want to see. The charity funds applicants to spend between four to eight weeks meeting experts in their field anywhere in the world, in person and/or online, building international networks that promote reciprocal knowledge exchange. It then helps Fellows to make a difference in their community or professional sector in the UK, based on insights inspired by these exchanges.
Applications to become a Churchill Fellow are open 4th September to 12th November 2024. Find out more here. Churchill Fellowships are open to all adult UK citizens, regardless of qualifications, background or age.

The Fellowship was set up in 1965 as the living legacy of Sir Winston Churchill for the nation. The Churchill Fellowship is the operating name of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, registered charity number 313952.