I am a highly experienced researcher, writer, trainer, speaker and board member. Until 2025 I was Director of the Bevan Foundation, Wales’s most influential think tank. I am committed to social justice and equality in Wales.
Victoria Winckler
My background
Until I stepped down in 2025 I was Director at the Bevan Foundation for 23 years, growing it from absolute zero to become Wales’s most influential, award-winning thinktank. Before that I worked in local government (at the Welsh Local Government Association and Mid Glamorgan County Council) and at Cardiff University. I have a PhD in regional planning and an MSc in Town Planning from Cardiff University and a BA in Geography from Aberystwyth University.
As well as undertaking small, freelance writing and research projects, I am currently a member of the Wales Committee of The National Lottery Community Fund, and a trustee of Citizens Advice Merthyr Tydfil and Voluntary Action Merthyr Tydfil.
I have lived and worked in Wales all my adult life, and I am firmly committed to reducing inequality and injustice in Wales.
My expertise
I have done many, many things over my career but I have special expertise in:
- poverty and standards of living
- housing
- jobs and the labour market
- influencing Senedd Cymru and the Welsh Government
- growing and developing small charities.
I have written hundreds of reports, briefings and articles, book chapters and newspaper columns. I have spoken at countless conferences, seminars and webinars, and appeared on radio and TV many times. I have also engaged with politicians and decisionmakers across the political spectrum.
I have served as a non-executive Director on North Glamorgan / Cwm Taf health board and Traveline Cymru, and was a member of a Ministerial Advisory group on tax, advised the Valleys Task Force, and was part of a government cost of living expert group.
My achievements
My ideas and evidence have helped to achieve real and lasting change in Wales. I have:
- Proved that free school meals for children from low-income families were affordable and deliverable – as a result all primary pupils now get a free lunch.
- Highlighted that Education Maintenance Allowance had been frozen for more than a decade and argued for an uplift – resulting in an extra £10 a week for low-income learners.
- Achieved more help for people in severe financial crisis – resulting in extra funding for the Welsh Government’s Discretionary Assistance Fund and more flexibility for applicants.
- Successfully made the case for special EU status for West Wales and the Valleys – eventually helping to secure more than £4bn 2000-2020.
- Secured EU funding to reopen the Aberdare and Maesteg rail lines, as well as many other rail improvements, that paved the way for the south Wales Metro.
Connect with me
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