2026 has seen the Churchill Fellowship launch its first new major grant programme for 60 years. The Activate Fund has been designed to enable individual changemakers to turn ideas into action, benefiting communities right across the UK. Abigail Campbell shares the journey.
The Churchill Fellowship was created in 1965 as a living legacy of Sir Winston Churchill. Within days of his death, an appeal was launched which received remarkable support from the general public across the UK. Thanks to this generosity, the charity was established from public donations alongside a small government grant.
Since 1965 we have awarded Fellowships to over 6,000 individuals passionate about a social challenge – often because they have lived experience of it – who have identified somewhere in the world they think is tackling that same challenge in a way we could learn from. We support their journeys of overseas discovery and then help them share their learning to influence change big and small in the UK.
The Churchill Fellowship is powered by a belief in the drive and potential of an individual to create change. Fellowships are designed to nurture passion and ignite potential by creating some of the enabling conditions for change to happen.
We would love to connect with other funders who are working with individuals as changemakers - for peer learning and skills exchange.
First, there’s time – up to eight weeks to create some headspace to pursue an idea. Then there’s the boost of confidence that comes from having an idea recognised, the validation of being ‘onto something’. A Fellowship generates multitudes of connections – an ever-evolving network to help navigate systems and catalyse ideas. Every Fellowship builds knowledge and skills – gathered from overseas, from other Fellows, our staff and partners. Finally, a Fellowship grant covers living and travel costs to make learning from the world a possibility.
Nonetheless, we recognise that it can be a challenge for any individual to turn that valuable learning into practical action. And we believe we have the potential to play a bigger enabling role – particularly by creating opportunities for Fellows to build their capacity, to test out their ideas, and to collaborate with others.
That’s why, following a successful 60th anniversary appeal, we’re excited to have launched a new funding opportunity, the Activate Fund to enable Churchill Fellows to take the learning they have gained overseas and use it to develop and scale work with potential for lasting impact.
Building on the foundations of a three-year pilot designed by Churchill Fellow, Derek Bardowell and nurtured by Sara Buchanan a third sector consultant, Activate will support Fellows to take one of three different pathways to change – creating infrastructure; piloting projects; or organising and mobilising with others.
Churchill Fellows can apply as individuals, or alongside organisations with whom they have a connection, or as a small collective of Fellows. Activate will run for at least five annual cycles and we expect to award 20 grants of up to £30,000 in the first year, rising to 30 each year by 2028 and we will announce our first recipients in November.
In addition to the grant, recipients of an Activate award will input to and benefit from a substantial support programme, responsive to the needs of the individual and their project, and those of the whole cohort.
Activate is very much a learning fund – we expect to make changes as we learn more about what individual changemakers need and how best we can help create the enabling conditions for them to thrive.
We want to learn in the open and look forward to sharing more reflections over the coming months and years.
We would love to connect with other funders who are working in this space, for peer learning and skills exchange. To that end we have created a collaboration opportunity for funders of individuals.
And if you know of an individual who is passionate about creating social change, please encourage them to think about applying for a Fellowship. The next round opens in September 2026.
The Funders Collaborative Hub publishes a range of perspectives. The views expressed here are those of the authors, not necessarily those of ACF.
