Individual Attachments
During the third and fourth weeks of the Fellowship Programme, each Fellow undertakes a series of individual placements reflecting their own professional interests. Past attachments have included working with parliamentarians, local government, press and television organisations, commercial and industrial enterprises, voluntary organisations, academics and others.
The attachments give the Fellows the opportunity to see UK organisations working in their professional field first hand and to gain an understanding, through observation and practical experience, of how the organisation fits into the social and political framework of the UK.
Each fellow normally undertakes a number of different placements to enable them to visit a range of organisations and make a number of professional contacts. The Trust works closely with the Fellows to ensure that they meet with those experts in the UK who can be most useful to them.
The Trust has been assisted with placements by over a 150 individuals and organisations. You can see a full list of our Attachment Hosts here.
The Fellows always gain an enormous amount from their placements and their experiences often have a significant impact on their work when they return home.
Examples of past attachments:
2003 Fellow David Avetissian, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economy in Armenia, spent time with the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority, Chris Pond MP and Prof. Michael Devereux of Warwick University - who advised on corporate taxation. He had meetings with Treasury officials and the Export Credit Guarantee Department of the DTI. He met with the Rt. Hon. Michael Howard MP (leader of the Conservative Party) and the Rt. Hon. Chris Smith MP (the latter to discuss the pros and cons of a national lottery).
On his return to Armenia he has produced a variety of new government initiatives based on the ideas he gained: For example, David recently completed a mortgage market development concept for Armenia which has been positively received by the IMF and World Bank. David says of this experience,
'You can not imagine how valuable your programme's contribution is to my current activity. It comes that Armenia will most probably adapt the UK model of the FSA and its institutional relations with the Bank and Treasury.'
2006 Fellow from the Ministry of Justice in Azerbaijan, Kamran Bayramov, had attachments with the Department for Constitutional Affairs Human Rights Unit, the Prison Inspectorate for Scottish Prisons, the Prison Reform Trust, Amnesty International and – with other 2006 Fellows – met country specialists in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
2003 Fellows Anastasia Ermolaeva (Russia) and Chynara Donbaeva (Kyrgyzstan) both work to protect vulnerable children and prevent human trafficking. Their attachment was overseen by James Cook University Hospital, visiting the Child Protection Unit of the Cleveland Police, meeting educational workers at SECOS (Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Streets), participating in outreach work with prostitutes and seeing the Cleveland Unit Child Development Centre at work. Inspired by this experience, Anastasia campaigned successfully for a legislative amendment to raise the age of consent for girls from 14 to 16.
Often lasting links are formed between Fellows and their attachment hosts which can continue to be a source of ideas and co-operation.
- 2002 Fellow Natalia Moskvina (Russia), President of "Release" a rehabilitation centre she founded for ex-prisoners, has continued her liaison with NACRO, returning to the UK for further training and even producing a film, with the assistance of Channel 4 TV, on conditions in Russian prisons.
- 2001 Fellow Nataliya Pomortseva (Russia), is now Head of the Intellectual Property and Innovative Management Department in the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences - set up by Nataliya and inspired by her experience in the UK. She spent time with Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation; the UK government's Chief Scientific Officer; and two of the science research councils. She has maintained her links with one of the research councils and, with British Council funding, has brought them to Ekaterinburg to train RAS scientists.
- Dr. Victor Koksharov (Russia), 2002 Fellow and then Chairman of the International Development Committee in the Sverdlovsk Region, was hosted by the Welsh Development Agency while in the UK. This has resulted in trade links between Sverdlovsk and Wales. Since his return, Dr. Koksharov has written an article published in the weekly magazine of the U.K. parliament (The House Magazine)
There are many other examples of the lasting benefits of Fellows' attachments in the UK. The Trust is grateful to all the many organisations and individuals who work so hard and give so much of their time to assist our Fellows.