A Churchill Fellowship is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create change in your community or professional sector, by discovering new approaches and best practice in other countries and using those insights to create change across the UK. We fund you to spend up to two months learning from the world, either by travelling overseas or online from the UK, and then we help you to turn your ideas into action in the UK.

As a Fellow, you are a part of our community of changemakers, which numbers 3,800 inspiring individuals in every area of UK life. Fellows communicate via our dedicated online networks and often collaborate on shared interests. They keep in touch with us and we continue to promote their work for many years. Fellows also serve on our Advisory Council, Board of Trustees and selection panels.

Churchill Fellowships are based on learning from the world, discovering new ideas and best practice from leading practitioners worldwide. Findings from this global research are used by Fellows to develop new solutions for today’s key challenges.

We fund Fellows to spend up to two months learning from overseas. Then we help them to share their recommendations and turn their ideas into action across the UK.

We cannot fund Fellows to travel to countries or parts of countries where the Foreign Office has advised against all travel or advised against all but essential travel.

The crucial part of a Churchill Fellowship starts after your overseas learning has concluded, when it is expected that you will actively use your findings to spread knowledge and make change happen in your sector or community in the UK. Guidelines and assistance for this are provided by our team through seminars, webinars, in the Fellows' Resources section of our website and in person.

Within three months of the end of your overseas learning, it is a requirement that you send us a summary of your learning and recommendations which will be published on our website.

A Fellowship is a lifelong status and you will be a part of our community of changemakers for as long as you like. From the moment you are awarded, we will offer general guidance and personal advice as you require. There is a seminar for new Fellows before your research starts, and grants available after your research to help with your UK activities. We will publish your Fellow's Report on our website and promote your ideas and activities to your community of interest. We provide online networks for you to meet other Fellows, and can offer individual advice on your plans on request.

Fellowships are open to all UK citizens, regardless of qualifications, background or age. They are given to individuals not organisations, and are awarded once a year through an open application process.

Up to 140.

This varies from year to year, averaging around 1,200.

Churchill Fellowships are the main activity that we fund. We are currently reviewing the grants and other support we can offer Fellows to implement their learning in the UK.

Fellowships are open to all UK citizens, regardless of qualifications, background or age. Fellows come from all parts of UK society. We do not require qualifications, but you should be passionate about what you do and keen to share your passion to inspire others. Find out more about who and what we fund.

To apply, you must satisfy all of these criteria:

• A UK Citizen in possession of proof of citizenship at the time when you apply.
• Resident in the UK.
• Aged 18 or over when you submit your application form (or turn 18 by the end of that year).

There is no upper age limit. We want to ensure that anyone with a worthwhile project has the chance to become a Churchill Fellow and we encourage applications from people of all ages.

We fund a wide range of projects. You can either apply to one of our current programmes, which are refreshed every few years according to the challenges currently facing the UK, or we have an Open option for all other projects.

Therefore, if you’re passionate about creating change in the UK in a particular area, believe a Churchill Fellowship would help you achieve your aims and fulfil our eligibility criteria, then we’d like to hear from you. Find out more about who and what we fund.

Two important criteria for Churchill Fellowships are: (a) projects must require learning that can only be obtained from other countries; and (b) they must provide a public benefit in the UK, whether to a particular community or sector or to the UK as a whole. We do not fund projects which only benefit the individual and show no potential for wider benefit.

It is not essential that projects relate to an applicant’s current area of employment. Many Churchill Fellows have successfully completed projects related to areas of interest outside of their professional life and many undertake projects inspired by their own lived experience of an issue. However, applicants do need to demonstrate that they are well placed to share and implement the findings from their Fellowship, and so they should be active in some capacity in the area to which their project relates, for example through volunteering.

Each grant is calculated individually, based on the project proposal, destinations to be visited or online learning to be carried out from the UK, and the duration of the overseas learning proposed as part of the Fellowship. Our aim is that all the costs related to learning from overseas for up to 8 weeks will be fully covered. You can find examples of grants and how they are calculated in our Applications Pack.

The grant covers your overseas learning related expenses:

• Travel option: economy class return travel to your destination countries, internal travel in your destination countries, food and accommodation for the duration of your travels, travel insurance, visas and vaccinations.
• Hybrid option: economy class return travel to your destination countries, internal travel in your destination countries, food and accommodation, travel insurance, visas and vaccinations for the duration of your travels overseas and financial support to contribute to the costs associated with carrying out online meetings from the UK with individuals and organisations overseas.
• Online option: financial support to contribute to the costs of carrying out online meetings with individuals and organisations overseas from the UK.

Some costs for interpreters, personal assistants and conference attendance may also be covered, on a case-by-case basis.

We cannot cover childcare costs or pay Fellows for their time while carrying out overseas learning through travel or online.

We want Churchill Fellows to be able to explore new ideas and fresh perspectives wherever they can be found, and so funding for interpreters is available. Please indicate on your application form if you will require an interpreter.

We assess each application on a case-by-case basis, but normally we do cover expenses for a personal assistant. We are committed to ensuring that disability is not a barrier to undertaking a Churchill Fellowship.

We cannot fund Fellows to travel to countries or parts of countries where the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has advised against all travel or advised against all but essential travel. Applications for travel to these destinations will not be successful.

When planning their travel, Fellows are supported by us to create a safe and viable itinerary. In some cases, we may ask Fellows to complete a Safety Plan, which is designed to help mitigate any potential problems they may experience.

Whilst travelling, Fellows are covered by our comprehensive travel insurance policy, which includes immediate 24/7 assistance in the case of emergencies. Fellows also receive access to a travel assistance app that provides travel and safety information on over 200 countries and a global incident monitoring and notification service. Our team is contactable via an out of hours emergency contact email and we have detailed contingency plans in place should a serious issue arise.

We make every reasonable effort to support Fellows and ensure their safety, but ultimately, Fellows do travel at their own risk. The Terms & Conditions under which Fellows travel can be read here.

We have made the process as simple as we can. You complete our online application form during the period when we are open for applications each year. If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to complete a more detailed shortlist form and invited for an interview.

We are closed for Fellowship applications and re-open in September 2024, for Fellowship projects starting from 1 August 2025.

We are currently closed for applications and re-open in September 2024.

For the current round, applicants will be informed in February 2024 whether they have been shortlisted. Please see our timeline.

We receive many excellent applications, and we are sadly unable to fund every high quality application we receive, or provide detailed feedback.  However, we do inform applicants of the main reason why your application was not successful.  The decisions made by our panels are final, but we encourage unsuccessful applicants to consider re-applying in the future. Many of our existing Fellows were not awarded a Fellowship the first time they applied.

Yes, you may re-apply as many times as you like. Many Churchill Fellows were unsuccessful with their first application. However, when re-applying you should give careful consideration to your feedback, and to who and what we fund.

You may submit only one application per year.

No. A Churchill Fellowship is truly the opportunity of a lifetime, and therefore we want to ensure that as many people as possible have the chance to experience it.

No. Fellowships are awarded to individuals.

In order to minimise bias, all applications are anonymised before they are assessed. This means that our assessors do not see any details of the applicant’s name, age, gender or other defining characteristics that might create a risk of unconscious bias. All applications are reviewed by a minimum of two members of our team before being submitted to our expert panels.

In order to ensure that our interviews are equitable and inclusive, we ask applicants to let us know in their application form if they require any reasonable adjustments in order to take part in our interview process.

We strongly encourage applicants to use the online application form. If you are unable to do this, please call 020 7799 1660 or email office@thechurchillfellowship.org to request a paper copy of the form. Please note that applications made by post must be received by the general deadline, and we cannot be responsible for late delivery of postal applications.

If you require any additional support to make your application, for reasons relating to accessibility, we will try to help where possible. In all circumstances, our submission deadline cannot be extended, so it is best to request any assistance in good time.

An explanation of our current programmes can be found here. If in doubt, please note:

• If your project deals with areas covered by more than one programme, please choose the programme that is your project's main focus.
• If you’re still not sure which programme to apply for, don’t worry: if the panel believes that your application is better suited to a different programme, your application will be transferred to it and you will be notified. (This will not affect your chances of success, but it may change your interview date.)

We want Fellowships to allow adequate time for observation and reflection, so we ask that overseas learning is carried out for a minimum of four weeks and up to a maximum of eight weeks.

There is no fixed limit to the number of countries you can visit. However, Churchill Fellowships are intended to be immersive and allow adequate time for observation and reflection. Therefore it's important to bear this in mind when considering how many countries you plan to spend time in.

Most Fellows visit more than one country, but we prefer continents to be limited to a maximum of two. If you do wish to visit more than two continents, we will ask you to clearly explain how this will benefit your project, and why the additional travel and costs involved are justified.

We are also aware that Fellows' international research has an environmental impact when it involves travel. Therefore if you believe research into a large number of countries is necessary for your project, we recommend you consider if some countries could be researched online from the UK or visited via the least environmentally impactful mode of travel. We reserve the right to limit the duration and scope of your proposed travel.

We cannot fund Fellows to travel to countries or parts of countries where the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has advised against all travel or advised against all but essential travel. If you are intending to visit a country that contains areas where the FCDO advises against travel but are travelling to an area that is deemed safe, we will request you to monitor the FCDO advice closely as this may change and you may not be able to travel there even if you have been awarded a Fellowship to do so. You can find the up-to-date FCDO travel advice here.

We recognise the substantial impact that travel can have on our environment and we are committed to supporting Fellows to minimise their carbon footprint. Throughout our Fellowship programme, we encourage Fellows to carry out research online where possible. When travel is considered essential to achieve your aims, we will encourage you to travel in the most environmentally friendly way possible. We will provide you with advice on reducing your carbon footprint, for example by using low carbon accommodation and more environmentally friendly modes of travel.

We have also launched two programmes on environmental issues; Caring for the natural environment and Climate change, and accept environmental aspects to projects across all of our programmes.

We recognise our responsibility to the environment through our Fellowship programme and our operations and our progress on this is explained here.

Not when you submit your initial application. If you are shortlisted, a budget will be requested at that time.

We encourage applicants to start planning their projects as soon as possible. However, we recognise that approaching people and organisations may not always be appropriate before you have been awarded a Fellowship: so at the initial application stage, a rough outline of who you plan to approach will suffice.

We encourage you to check whether your employer has specific internal procedures for applying for grants or sabbaticals and discuss your application with your line manager prior to attending your interview.

If you have a particular need for our assistance and require any additional support to make your application, we are happy to try to help where possible. However, this is discretionary and we will need advance notice in sufficient time to cater for your needs. In all circumstances, our submission deadline cannot be extended, so it is best to request any assistance in good time.

Yes, you will be asked to provide the details of two referees. We will only contact your referees if you reach the shortlist stage (see timeline). Your referees will then have approximately two weeks to complete an online reference form for us. Your referees should be based in the UK and should have known you well for at least twelve months and have knowledge of your profession, interests or work in the community. Referees cannot be members of your family or simply social acquaintances. If your project will bring you into contact with children and/or adults at risk, your referees will be asked to comment on your relevant experience.

For several of the questions in the application form there are strict character limits, which can be found within the form. Please bear these in mind before planning your answers. Please also note that the character limit includes spaces and punctuation.

We are currently closed for applications and re-open in September 2024.

Do not start a new application. Please call 020 7799 1660 or email office@churchillfellowship.org and we will help you to access your application.

No. Once you have submitted your application, you will not be able to make changes to it. We therefore strongly advise you to take the opportunity to review your application before submitting it.

We cannot accept any applications submitted after the deadline. We therefore strongly recommend submitting well before the deadline, so that we can assist you with any technical difficulties you may encounter.

Check your junk mail, as some applicants have told us that their confirmation email has arrived there. If you still can’t find your confirmation email, please call 020 7799 1660.

In April or May, depending on the programme you applied under. Shortlisted applicants must attend an interview on the specific day allocated to the relevant programme. Interview dates for each of our programmes will be available on our website closer to the time and we recommend you check our website regularly and block out the relevant interview day you’re your project to ensure you are available. Interviews last 20 minutes and we encourage candidates to attend interviews in person at our offices in London if this is possible. If candidates are not able to attend in person, we ask them to contact us regarding a virtual alternative. Candidates who are unable to attend in person will not be disadvantaged.

We select up to two reserves for each of our programmes who may be called for interview if spaces become available. Reserves are asked to submit a shortlist form, including detailed plans and a budget, and their referees are contacted. While we cannot guarantee spaces will become available for interview many reserves in previous years have been called for interview and been awarded Fellowships.

No. Each programme has its own panel of subject specialists, which is also responsible for creating the shortlist. Applicants must be interviewed by their specialist panel and therefore the allocated day of their interview cannot be changed.

All our Fellowship offers are calculated on a case-by-case basis. Because of the range of our Fellowships, there is no typical or maximum grant size. To calculate grants, we look at the project itself, the duration of the overseas learning and whether it will be carried out online or via travel. We use our own rate card and work with a travel agent to understand the likely costs of each proposed Fellowship. However, we also ask you to supply your own estimates of the budget required for your proposed international and local travel; living costs in your specific destinations and the costs associated with carrying out online meetings from the UK and take these estimates into account when making grant offers. We do not pay for childcare costs or for your time in planning or carrying out your Fellowship. You can find examples of grants and how they are calculated in our Applications Pack.

The size of the budget you submit will not impact the decision on whether you are awarded a Fellowship. Therefore, please submit a realistic budget to carry out your Fellowship which will allow you to maximise your learning while also taking into account that we are a charity with limited resources.

By the beginning of June 2024. Please see our timeline here.