A FINE instrument maker from Chipping Norton was a guest of Her Majesty The Queen during a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the 50th anniversary of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.
Paul Fischer was one of 5,000 British citizens awarded a Churchill Fellowship since 1965 to travel overseas to study areas of topical and personal interest.
The knowledge and innovative ideas brought back are shared, for the benefit of their profession, their community, and, in lots of cases, the nation.
Mr Fischer went on his Fellowship in 1983 to Brazil to investigate the destruction of the rainforests and its impact on the export of precious and special tonewoods used in the making of fine musical instruments.
Fellow instrument makers benefitted from his work and the discovery of less endangered species particularly as by 1992, two species were placed on Cites Appendix 1 of the list of endangered species.
To mark its semicentennial, the Trust has just awarded a record number of 150 travelling Fellowships investing at least £1.3m in British citizens. This year's Fellows will travel to 58 countries between them, across six continents, where they will carry out a wide range of projects. The average length of a Fellowship is 6 weeks.
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