RSP Member - The Churchill Fellowship

About the Churchill Fellowship

The Churchill Fellowship is a UK charity which supports individuals to follow their passion for change, through learning from the world and bringing that knowledge back to the UK. The charity funds applicants to spend between four to eight weeks meeting experts in their field anywhere in the world, in person and/or online, building international networks that promote reciprocal knowledge exchange. It then helps Fellows to make a difference in their community or professional sector in the UK, based on insights inspired by these exchanges.

From aged 18 into their 80s and from every corner of all four nations, Churchill Fellows have achieved amazing things, inspired by their Fellowship learning: from becoming community leaders and charity founders to embedding new services and campaigning for action in fields from climate change to education, technology to the arts. Fellows come from all areas of society and work on any issue they are passionate about. They are selected regardless of qualifications, background or age, and often bring lived or learned experience of the issue they wish to address.

Each year, the Fellowship runs a variety of focused programmes responding to topical issues or challenges within society. Between 2019 – 2023 The Churchill Fellowship ran a designated programme of Fellowships focused on rural communities, in partnership with the Royal Countryside Fund. Across three years, the Fellowship funded 32 individuals from around the UK to explore international approaches to strengthening countryside communities and bring that learning back for the benefit of the UK.

The cohort of 32 Fellows explored multidisciplinary approaches to invigorate transport networks, reimagine housing, boost employment and enterprise and improve access to education, culture and healthcare, amongst other areas. These Fellows are now sharing their Fellowship learning with communities and policymakers and using their insights to deliver positive change for rural communities all over the country, both individually and collectively as a cohort. They would welcome opportunities to build further connections and share their learning more widely with the rural sector. You can read more about the Fellows including their published reports and latest activity via our website: Rural communities

Outside of the designated programme, Fellows continue to apply their learning to rural services and communities in the UK and the Fellowship welcomes further applications from individuals in this field. Applications to become a Churchill Fellow next open on 2nd September 2025. www.churchillfellowship.org