2025 Churchill Fellowships

Churchill Fellows are dedicated and dynamic individuals with a vision for change in their community or sector. We support their mission by funding them to explore innovations around the world and then helping them to put their ideas into practice in the UK. This can be done in person or online.

They are distributing free school meals, campaigning for race equity, preventing domestic abuse, redesigning children’s playgrounds, widening access to sport, protecting biodiversity, making music with disabled people and much, much more.

Fellows come from all areas of society and work on any issue they are passionate about. We select them regardless of qualifications, background or age, and we prioritise those who would not receive funding from other sources. They bring lived or learned experience of the issue they wish to address, and we recognise the insight and authority these bring.

WHAT IS A FELLOWSHIP?

We will fund you to spend up to two months discovering new ideas and best practice among leading practitioners anywhere in the world. You can do this in person or online. Then we will help you to write up your ideas as a Report published on our website, to share your insights with your community or sector, and to turn your ideas into action in the UK.

The initial grant covers all expenses for your research phase, including all travel costs. If needed, it also covers interpreters and travel assistants.

The topic you explore is defined by you. It must meet our eligibility criteria, which include offering a practical benefit to UK society. Success will be assessed within your own terms, and may be local or national.

The success of your application for a Fellowship is not affected by your qualifications, background or age. We ask only that you are a UK resident citizen aged 18 or over. We are looking for people with the potential to inspire change.

The support we offer extends beyond the initial grant:

• We offer advice and assistance with planning your research and travels, writing up your findings, sharing your knowledge and implementing your ideas.
• We promote your ideas and activities on our website and social media channels.
• We plug you in to our online Fellows’ networks which offer local and thematic contacts and collaborations.
• We offer post-research grants for your knowledge-sharing and events.
• We maintain contact for as long as you like, and include all Fellows within our community.

Many Fellows start their projects at a local level, in their workplace or locality, and then grow its influence, perhaps to regional or sector level. Some find themselves affecting national levels of policy or services. Almost all say that the Fellowship took them to places and levels they had not expected. In a recent survey, 100% of Fellows said they would recommend a Fellowship to others.

Crucial to this process is the personal and professional growth that comes from a Fellowship. You have an opportunity to take time out of normal life, for learning and thinking. You will be learning in a topic you care about, from leading practitioners you have chosen, anywhere in the world. You will have the status of being a Churchill Fellow, which opens doors overseas and at home. Many Fellows tell us that their ideas were not taken seriously until they became a Fellow, when their voice was fully heard.

Fellows report that these effects are long-lasting. Our survey showed that – as a result of their Fellowship – 77% of Fellows remain globally connected, 61% are leaders in their sector and 77% feel they are more fulfilled professionally. Some 88% said it was a life-changing experience.

WHO AND WHAT WE FUND

We fund UK adult citizens from all areas of society to develop new solutions for UK issues, based on successful innovations and best practice from overseas.

We cover practical topics in every area of UK life, through our universal theme framework and our evolving Fellowship programmes which focus on topical issues and refresh every few years.

We will fund you to spend between 4-8 weeks meeting the innovators in your field anywhere in the world, in person or online, and then we will help you to make a difference in your community or sector in the UK.