The change I wish to see in public services
Several years ago, a friend and colleague, Monique shared a link to the Churchill Fellowships with me. She thought it’d be a good fit. These are independent fellowships funding people to explore ideas globally and bring learning back to the improve the UK, across themes including, care, climate care and lifelong health.
At the time, I hesitated. There was a lot going on in my life and I didn’t feel I could bring forward the creativity and energy the application would need. But I signed up to hear more.
The “applications are open” newsletter landed the following year. And the next. Each time, life outside work felt too full. My energy container was already stretched.
Last year, I applied. I got through part of the process, but ultimately my application wasn’t successful. On a briefing call afterwards, they shared that most fellows aren’t successful in their first year. That helped.
With Spark’s ten-year birthday coming up next year, I applied again. This time with a twist. After ten year’s working in and alongside UK public services, I found myself reflecting on what’s next. For Spark, and for me. Where does my journey go now? What is the change I wish to see? (With a big thank you to Robyn and Bron for the reflections and encouragement to help shape this).
In December, I was happy to hear my application has made is through to the second round. I can see my idea is stronger and more grounded than last year. There’s still some way to go through the process, with a final decision in June/July.
Since then, I’ve noticed a growing energy in me. A sense that I don’t want to wait for permission to begin. If the application isn’t successful, and I wait another year, could I really sit in silence while this idea slowly flickers out?
After some nudging conversations (thank you Jeni, Tim and Tayo), I’ve decided not to wait. I’m giving time and space to this idea regardless of whether the fellowship comes through.
The working title is:
How trust and humanity can build the conditions for courageous change in public sector reform
One of the application questions asks: What change do you hope to make in the UK? Please tell us why you think a change is needed and what difference it could make, including who you think would benefit most.
Here’s what I wrote:
The challenge: the UK’s public sector is wrestling with reform fatigue, declining trust and workforce burnout. Across education, health and care, especially in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), reforms are underway. Yet many involved feel discouraged, stuck or quietly heartbroken. One client described our improvement work as “pissing into the wind.”
People I meet care deeply. It’s not a lack of courage, but systems that have worn down their ability to act. Financial, operational and cultural pressures drain their energy. It’s not failure, but moral injury: the pain of knowing better but not feeling able to act.
The change: to rebuild capacity for courageous change, we need to learn how to build systems where individuals, teams and organisations can thrive. I want to explore how public sectors have translated fear-driven compliance into trust-based participation.
Who benefits: families, practitioners and local leaders working to improve lives within stretched systems. By learning how to create the right conditions for trust, safety and agency, we can help reform take root, even amid complexity and uncertainty.
So, here is the start of this next journey.
I’m so curious to see what thinking, conversations and learning emerge along the way.
Thinking Out Loud is where I share short pieces of thinking from the middle of the work. Ideas, questions and lived experiences, shared while they’re still forming. (Tiny Experiments Pact: Day 3/100).