Maggie Beer’s late daughter, Saskia Beer will soon be honoured through the 2022 Churchill Fellowship programme which supports passionate and innovative food lovers like Saskia.
The Saskia Beer Churchill Fellowship was established after she unexpectedly passed away in her sleep at the age of 46 in February, 2020.
“It’s particularly special for us to honour Saskia through this Fellowship,” Maggie said.
“Our whole business started with my husband, Colin being awarded a Fellowship in 1978.
“So when we thought of how we could create a legacy in Saskia’s name, the Fellowship was the most obvious thing.”
Through Colin’s Fellowship he investigated commercial game bird breeding and the tourism potential.
Saskia, who grew up in the Barossa, had a gift for cooking and was passionate about all food cultures.
At just eight years of age, she first helped her father, Colin with the family pheasant and quail farming enterprise, and shared a love of cooking with Maggie.
Maggie and Colin approached the Churchill Fellowship in hopes that Saskia’s legacy would live on through the programme and inspire others to pursue a career in the food industry.
The Fellowship offers cooks, chefs, farmers, growers, producers or entrepreneurs an opportunity to travel overseas and investigate a topic they are passionate about, with an average of $28,000 plus organisational support.
Successful applicants will be required to publish a report and actively engage in disseminating their findings within the food industry when they return from their overseas travels.
“In the top 3 applicants we look for the potential that a person has to really learn something and bring it back to Australia,” Maggie said.
“It’s also about making a difference.
“There are so many possibilities through this Fellowship.”
