On 23 March 2026, we recognised the hard work of our 4th and final cohort in an event to celebrate not only their graduation from the programme but the ending of the programme itself.
The fellowship will not continue as part of the new ICB structure in the formal sense. There will be no designated team or structure to carry out the work. The legacy very much continues. The programme was about changing culture and that happens through people.
The energy and commitment in the room to carry on this work was clear. And in the words of Michael Crowther, Chief Executive of Kirkwood Hospice, “Why should we carry on this work? Why wouldn’t we? It is the right thing to do.”
We had fellows from previous cohorts, executive sponsors and placement managers of our fellows, members of the anti-racist leadership network, supporters of the fellowship including Rob Webster CEO of West Yorkshire ICB and System and Leadership Development (SLD) team members past and present.
Thank you to our cohort 4 fellows, Rashed Khan and Karen Ashmeade, for sharing their learning experience, and Amrit Reyat for giving her insights from being a placement manager as a cohort 1 fellow. Rachael Jubb and Muqadsa Malik from the SLD team did a fantastic job organising and facilitating a wonderful event. This is not the end. We are moving into a different way of being.
