Last night I had the pleasure of attending the 2023 Churchill Fellows Association Annual Dinner in Perth. The dinner was an opportunity to celebrate last year’s fellows (who had earlier that day received their medallions from the Governor-General), and to present on my own project – along with the other new Western Australian recipients.
One of the interesting observations that I made during the night, partly due to a call for a show of hands during my own time at the lectern, was the relatively small number of regional recipients. For someone working in regional development, this feels like an area for encouragement and improvement, given the huge value the Fellowship could provide to outcomes in our regions.
The other thing I’m noticing is how next year’s journey seems to just solidify that little bit more each time I talk about the research that I’m planning to undertake, the places that I intend to visit and the impact that I’m hoping this work will have. I noted in my last post how things were ‘starting to feel real’ and each event like this just helps to solidify this process.