Fellows' Programme
Applications are now open for our annual Fellows' programme. Westminster Abbey Institute’s annual Fellows’ programme aims to nurture and revitalise moral and spiritual values in public life and service.
Geared at public servants in, or moving into senior leadership roles, it offers participants time and space to pause, to reflect deeply on the ethical challenges of public service, and to attend to the moral muscles required for public service leadership in a changing and demanding world.
Through a mix of seminars, residentials and mentoring, the programme explores the moral heart of public service from a wide range of perspectives.
Over the course of its first ten years, the programme has established a connected community of public servants committed to the public good, to leading with integrity, and to supporting each other, and those around them, in this endeavour. This wider Fellowship community comes together at events throughout the year, and at the Institute’s biennial Congress. This work continues to grow and develop with the support of a Fellows’ Council, made up of representatives from across different cohorts.
Fellowship programme 2026 - 27
What is the Fellowship programme?
Our annual Fellows’ Programme brings together public servants in, or moving into, leadership roles. Through seminars and residentials, Fellows develop as servant leaders, explore the ethical and personal challenges of public service, and gain insight into a wide range of institutions and their values. The programme is designed to be both stretching and nurturing - supporting growth, resilience, and care for self and others.
Who will you connect with through the Fellowship?
Each Fellow is paired with a mentor from the Institute’s Council of Reference or Senior Fellows and has the opportunity to meet the Canon Theologian (Chair of the Institute) in conversation, alongside leaders from across public service and the Abbey community.
What happens after you complete the programme?
On completion, participants are appointed Fellows of Westminster Abbey Institute and join a community of more than 170 public servants committed to the moral and ethical health of public life. Fellows are expected to remain connected, supporting one another in their shared commitment to the common good.
How do I apply?
To apply, please request an application form using the link below. The application deadline is Friday 12th December 2025 at 1:00pm. Applications received after this time will not be considered.
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Commitment to public service as a vocation for others and the common good.
- Willingness to answer the call to public office.
- Curiosity about the moral and ethical dimensions of service.
- Readiness to engage fully and make use of the programme’s learning.
- Reliability in attending all programme components.
The programme is aimed at those approaching or holding senior responsibilities (typically Deputy Director in the Civil Service or equivalent: Major and above in the Army; Superintendent and above in the Metropolitan Police).
- Applications are welcomed from those of all faiths and none.
- Attendance at Evensong in Westminster Abbey is offered but not required.
The Fellows’ Programme runs over 12 months and includes three residential retreats and six themed seminars, held at Westminster Abbey and partner venues. Fellows explore the moral, spiritual, and practical dimensions of public service throughout the year. Attendance at all sessions is required. A full timetable of confirmed dates is available on request with the application form.
Fellows receive passes to Westminster Abbey and are invited to Institute events and receptions throughout the year.
There is no fee however Fellows are asked to contribute £450 (payable on acceptance) and cover their own travel.
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Find out more
The deadline for applications is Friday 12th December 2025 at 1:00pm. Applications received after this time will not be considered. To request an application form, please email: [email protected]
Fellows' Programme: current members (2024-25)
| Name | Current Role |
|---|---|
| The Revd Tom Mumford | Vicar, St Mary le Tower Ipswich, Church of England |
| Miriam Lorie | Rabbi, Kehillat Nashira |
| Connor Moore | Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships, Turn2us |
| Ugbana Oyet | Serjeant at Arms, House of Commons |
| Lt Col Jennifer Painting | Educational and Training Services Management, British Army/MOD |
| Helen Hitching | Deputy Director, Digital, Data and Technology, Chief Data Office, National Crime Agency |
| Sarah Helferty | Director of Operations, Private Secretary's Office, Royal Household |
| Sarah Brader | Director of Culture Change, Head of Business Improvement & Change Team, House of Lords |
| Peter Walker | Acting Deputy Political Editor, The Guardian |
| Sarah Butters | Senior Manager, Prudential Regulation Authority, Bank of England |
| Theo Clarke | Former MP for Stafford |
| Nabeela Rasul | Formerly Deputy Director, Leadership, Talent & Inclusion, DEFRA |
| Councillor Fred Grindrod | Principal Official (Campaigns and Communications), NASUWT |
| Julie Black | Director of Discovery and Sustainability, UK Space Agency |
| Alice Adamson | Deputy Director, Rehabilitation Strategy and Interventions, HMPPS |
| Dr Gareth Conway | Chief, Fellow and Ethics Champion, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, Ministry of Defence |
| Rupert Littlewood | Head of Geography Department, The Grey Coat Hospital School |
Graduated Fellows
- Rosanna Barry SCS1 - Team Leader of the Committees Scrutiny Unit, House of Lords
- Dr Harrison Carter - Chief of Staff, Office of Steve Russell, National Director for Vaccinations and Screening, NHS England
- Dr Tagore Charles - Consultant paediatrician, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, NHS
- Sophie Duncan - Business and Strategy, NCPPE (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, Bristol University)
- Jonathan Finlay - Second Clerk, Business and Trade Committee
- Colonel James Greaves - Lt Col, British Army
- The Revd Guy Hewitt Director of Racial Justice, Church of England, Lambeth Palace, London
- Dr Neil Hudson MP - MP, Epping Forest
- Detective Superintendent Christina Jessah - CID & Tasking, Roads and Transport Policing Command
- Dr Siobhán Jolley - Lecturer in Christian Studies, University of Manchester
- Professor Yseult Marique - Deputy Research Director (International), Essex Law School
- Gillian McFarland - Deputy Director, Department for Education
- Paul Morgan-Bentley - Head of Investigations, The Times
- Nicole Nicholls - T/Director Intelligence, National Crime Agency
- Kyla Owen - Executive Assistant to the Queen, The Royal Household
- Lydia Urquhart - Head of Campaigns, Communications, Home Office
- Lieutenant Colonel James Ashworth - Military Assistant to Commander Home Command and Standing Joint Commander (UK)
- Tammy Banks - CEO Taye Training; Lay Member of Parliamentary Committee on Standards
- Becky Barrow - News Editor, The Sunday Times
- Chris Chipchase - Senior HR Business Partner, Home Office
- Dr Richard Douglas - Senior Analyst, National Audit Office; part-time Research Fellow of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey
- Rosie Duffield – Independent MP, Canterbury
- Alison Groves - Clerk, House of Commons
- Kate Newton – UN World Food Programme
- Leila Pilgrim - Deputy Director/Secretary to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry
- Lewis Pugh OIG - UN Patron of the Oceans
- Chief Superintendent Dr Richard Smith – Metropolitan Police
- Dr Tristan Stubbs - Private Secretary to the Clerk of Parliaments
- Dr Mehrunisha Suleman - Director of Medical Ethics and Law Education, Ethox Centre, University of Oxford
- Commander Anne Sullivan MVO - Deputy Private Secretary to HRH Princess Anne, The Royal Household
- Professor Holly Bridge - Professor of Neuroscience, University of Oxford
- The Revd Ben Cahill-Nicholls - Chief Executive, Clergy Support Trust
- Miriam Cates – Former MP, Penistone and Stocksbridge
- Chloe Challender - Senior Clerk, House of Commons
- The Revd James Cruddas OBE - Deputy Director, Northern Ireland Strategy, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Chris Farrimond - Director, Threat Leadership, National Crime Agency
- Dr Natasha Hall - Programme Manager, Animal and Plant Health Agency
- Dr Eleanor James - Consultant Clinical Oncologist City Hospital, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Sharon Maddix - Deputy Director, Local Transport, Department for Transport
- Rabbi David Mitchell - Co-Senior Rabbi, West London Synagogue
- Andrew Paterson - Chief Operating Officer and Programme Director, Covid-19 Inquiry
- Anthony Perks - Station Officer, London Fire Brigade
- Commander Victoria Shirvill - Head of People Change Executive, Royal Navy
- Dr Edward Stevens – Impact & Knowledge Exchange Manager, King’s College London
- Colonel Hannah Stoy - Personnel Lead, Headquarters Field Army
- Dr Alison Wood - Fellow and Academic Director Homerton Changemakers, Homerton College, University of Cambridge
- Commander Caroline Dix - Air Engineer, Royal Navy and Military Advisor to HM Treasury
- Elizabeth Gilmore - Director, Hastings Contemporary
- Rebecca Hackett - Portfolio Leader/Deputy Director, Corporate Strategy and and Marine Planning, Marine Directorate, The Scottish Government
- Oliver Higgins - Head of Tasking, National Crime Agency
- Dr Andrew Hines - Head of Visitor Engagement, Coventry Cathedral
- William Humphrey-Jones - Manager/Editor, Hansard, House of Lords
- The Revd Canon Dr Simon Jones - Higher Education Chaplaincy, Merton College, Oxford
- Laura Marjason-Smyth – Director, Metropolitan Police
- Lucy McCormick - Barrister, Henderson Chambers
- Dr Cathy Miller - Deputy Director, Road Safety, Department for Transport
- James Mirza-Davies - Senior Library Clerk, House of Commons Library
- Anthony Pickles - Director, The Blakeney Group
- Mario Pisani - Deputy Director, HM Treasury
- Elizabeth Rawlinson - Religious Studies Teacher, Bishop Luffa School, Chichester
- Nadine Smith – Director of Government and Enterprise, Social Finance
- Adam Smyth – Interim Director, BBC Northern Ireland
- Paul Brummell - His Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador, Latvia
- Davina Cameron Gale - History teacher, The Greycoat Hospital
- Damien Dacey - Interim Deputy Chief Executive, East Midlands Combined County Authority
- Rachel Davies Teka – Advocacy Director, Transparency International UK
- David Fugurally - Head of Efficiency and Capability, Department for Education
- Libby Kurien - Clerk, Business and Trade Committee
- Julia Lopez - MP, Conservative, Hornchurch and Upminster
- Charlie MacDermot-Roe LVO – Independent HR Consultant
- The Revd Canon Anna Macham - Canon Precentor, Salisbury Cathedral
- Rebecca Mitchell - Barrister, 1GC
- Noel Murphy - Lawyer, Financial Conduct Authority
- Aidan Naughton - Engagement Delivery Director, Cognizant
- Roya Nikkhah - Royal Editor, The Sunday Times
- Chris Porter - Director of Forensic Services, Metropolitan Police Service
- Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Pritchard MBE - Royal Navy, Royal Marines
- Jonathan Smith - Head of Finance, House of Lords
- Alasdair Tait - Chief Executive & Artistic Director, Young Classical Artists Trust
- Dr Elizabeth Tunbridge - Director of Translational Neuroscience, Boehringer Ingelheim
- Alison Wragg - Older Adults Service Director for the Boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea,
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL); Founder and Director Leone Centre, Individual & Couple Therapy and Family Therapy Services
- Xenia Angevin - Principal Consulting Psychologist, OD and L&D Specialist, Res Claritas Consulting, Germany
- Steve Bennett - Director of Operation, Harod Associates Ltd
- Captain Stuart Finn - Royal Navy, Royal College of Defence Studies
- Dr Emma Fosbury - Consultant in Paediatric Haematology, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital,
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust - Marcus Fysh – Former MP
- Daniel Hobbs - Director, General Migration and Borders, Home Office
- Sarah Jones - Clerk, House of Lords
- Jack Palmer-White - Senior Director, Good Faith Partnership
- Dr Lorenzo Pasculli - Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the UCL Dawes Centre for Future Crime, University College London
- Daniel Pearl - Creative Director, Lion Television
- The Revd Canon Malcolm Rogers MBE - Vicar of Huyton Quarry, Area Dean of Huyton and The Bishop of Liverpool's Canon For Reconciliation
- Commander Catherine Roper - Central Specialist Crime, Metropolitan Police Service
- Barbara Speed – Deputy Opinion Editor, The Guardian
- Tristan Stone - Head of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Ewell Castle School
- Fay Tennet - Deputy Director of Security, The Royal Household
- Fleur Thomas – His Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador, Luxembourg
- Jonathan Tod - Barrister, 29 Bedford Row Chambers
- Carl Warner - Principal Curator, Narrative, Imperial War Museums
- Polly Williams - Head of Diversity and Inclusion, the Law Society
- Dr Katharine Bailey - Consultant Haematologist, King’s College Hospital
- Professor Andrew Blick - Head of the Department of Political Economy and Professor of Politics and Contemporary History, KCL
- Ian Clarke KC - Selborne Chambers
- Ben Cooper – Chief Content & Music Officer, Bauer Media Audio
- John Fitzpatrick - Director, Covid-19 Public Inquiries Response Unit, Cabinet Office
- Dt Sup Treena Fleming - Metropolitan Police Service
- Charlotte Fox – PhD student in English Literature funded by AHRC at Royal Holloway, University of London
- Martin John - Director, Science Hub Programme, UK Health Security Agency
- The Rt Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett – Bishop of Croydon
- Jenny McCartney – Journalist and author
- Colonel Doug Pennefather – UK Ministry of Defence
- Becky Purvis - Director of Policy and Partnership, Health Research Authority
- Talitha Rowland - Deputy Director, Security & Online Harms, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Adam Thompson - Head of Border Threats, National Crime Agency
- Dr Edge Watchorn – Director, Westminster Abbey Institute
- Daniel Whiteley - Strategy & Change Directorate, National Crime Agency
- Dr Chris Adams - Senior Consultant at Shearwater Global
- Dr Emily Baldock - Director of Strategy and Business Planning, House of Commons
- Dawn Butler - MP, Labour, Brent East
- Commander Stephen Clayman - Metropolitan Police Service
- Antony Garvey – Senior Producer, BBC
- Major Luke Hoare MBE - Company Commander, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
- Jane Hough - Financial Improvement Lead, House of Commons
- Adam Irwin - Managing Director, Nodum Global
- Charlie Lang - Deputy Director, Department for Education
- Dr Lucian Leustean - Reader in Politics and International Relations, Aston University
- The Revd Alexandra Lilley - Vicar, St George & All Saints Tufnell Park
- Claire Macmillen - Deputy Director, Head of Climate Change and Renewable Energy, Government Legal Department
- Zoë O'Sullivan KC - Serle Court
- Dr Sarah Perkins - Executive Director, BBSRC
- Victoria Prentis - MP, Conservative, North Oxfordshire, Attorney General
- Shamailla Rashid – Head of HR, Government Actuary’s Department
- Christopher Sandamas MVO – Operations Manager, Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office at HM Treasury
- Richard Sargeant - Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group
- Tom Tolfree - Executive Director of Portfolio Oversight at Office of Projects Victoria (OPV), Australia
- Emma Woods - Director of Policy, Natural History Museum
- The Ven Elizabeth Adekunle - Chaplain to His Majesty the King, Non-executive Director, Berkeley Group
- Caroline Creer MVO- Secretariat Director, The Royal Household
- Tom Dannatt - CEO & Founder, Street Child
- Prof Adam Dinham - Professor of Faith & Public Policy, Goldsmiths, University of London
- The Revd Josh Harris – Priest-in-Charge, The Guild Church of St Katharine Cree
- Peter Howitt - Managing Director, Centre for Health Policy, IGHI, Imperial College London
- Jessica Lee - Barrister, 1GC
- Dr Chloë Reddaway - Research Fellow (Visual Commentary on Scripture) Arts and the Sacred at King's College London; McDonald Agape Theology and the Arts Research Associate, Duke University, North Carolina
- Saira Salimi - Speaker's Counsel, House of Commons
- Clare Salters - Panel Member, Judicial Appointments Commission; Trustee at the OHMI Trust, Music of Life Foundation, Constitutional Society and Hounslow Music Service and Music Tutor.
- Dr Alison Thomas - Paediatric Haematology Consultant, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Rebecca Vaughan - Communications adviser, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
- Helen Whiteoak - Head of Programmes & Engagement, National Portrait Gallery
- Ben Wilson - Head of Communications, National Infrastructure Commission
- Caroline Winter - Deputy Director, Housing Supply and Markets, Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government
- Rapela Zaman - Freelance Consultant on Science and Society
