Tenacious Award Winners become part of a unique campaigning community, with ongoing support throughout the year. We’re keen to hear from campaigners who are excited to be part of this community, and who will actively participate in the community developing their own campaigning and championing fellow campaigners too.  

Tenacious awardees receive:

• £20,000 of flexible funding for you to dedicate to your campaign. Funds are paid in two instalments for organisations, or four for individuals, across the year.

• Join Changing Ideas’ campaigns’ community: Campaigning is hard work and often lonely. As part of Tenacious you’ll become part of a wider community of campaigners. You’ll meet them all at a community kick-off call at the start of the programme, then join an online channel for ongoing peer support, come together for group classes throughout the year, be invited to our showcase event plus an end of the year meet up.

• A place at the Tenacious showcase event: You’ll have a place to showcase your campaign at the Tenacious Campaigns Showcase, pitching your campaign to a room of campaigners, funders, journalists and lawyers. This unique event gives you a chance to bring your campaign to a wider audience and connect with experts who can help you on your journey.

• Access to expert campaign coaches and tailored support: You’ll get access to mentors and campaign skills development support.

• Alumni Network: When the year is over, you’ll continue to be part of the Tenacious community, with invites to Tenacious and Changing Ideas events.

• Wellbeing support: access to a trauma-informed therapist, in recognition that campaigning can take a real personal toll.

Tenacious Awards are granted to:

• Either an individual campaigner or an individual leading a small team, group or organisation with a primary focus on campaigning

• Someone with a proven track record of campaigning

• Dedicating at least 10+ hours a week to the campaign

• UK resident working on a campaign focused on the UK

• Someone who seeks to correct injustice, for the benefit of broader society, within a foreseeable time

• Someone who is able to clearly articulate the change they wish to see and has a plan for how to get there

• Someone who wants to and is ready to make significant progress towards the change they seek in the year ahead

• Fulfils a charitable purpose as described by the relevant legislation

• This funding is likely to make a difference to their campaign.

• Someone interested in joining, supporting and learning from a wider community of Tenacious campaigners. 

• Any cause area - we’re committed to supporting campaigners across any cause area where there is a manifest injustice, and the campaigner has a clear aim and concrete goal. 

• This year we are particularly interested in hearing from:

• Campaigners holding corporates to account where there is clear evidence of harm (especially where companies exploit people or the environment, including addictive products and harmful practices in sectors such as food, pharmaceuticals, gambling, tech, and beyond).

• Campaigners working to prevent avoidable deaths (for example, focusing on suicide prevention, improving workplace safety, or holding corporations accountable after loss of life, such as in the Post Office scandal or the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy).

• Campaigners based in Scotland (working on issues that affect people and communities in Scotland).

Tenacious campaigners use a mixture of methods and approaches to achieve their campaigning goals.

These could range from legal action, policy influencing, advocacy, direct action, creative social media and digital campaigning and the mobilisation of the public around a specific injustice. We’re not prescriptive and interested in seeing any variety of approaches reflected in applicants’ campaign strategies.

Online nominations are invited from people with experience of campaigning and supporting campaigners. trusted associates with campaigning experience. Campaigners wishing to be considered will need to be nominated. We advise asking someone familiar with your campaigning work to nominate you.

• Closing date for nominations: 15 May 2026

• Closing date for selected nominees to complete online application form: 1 June  2026

• Selected finalists to attend an online interview: late-June

• Selection of Tenacious 2026 campaigners: End of July

• Due diligence and any contractual matters: August

• Launch event: September/October 2026 (date tbc)

Our cohort of 2026 Tenacious awardees is selected by trustees of Changing Ideas with advice from an expert panel considering the following criteria:

• Track record of the campaigner

• Issue they are seeking to address

• Clarity about the specific goal they are seeking to achieve & tactics they plan to use to achieve their goal 

• Likelihood of achieving impact

• Commitment and dedication to the cause over the next year

• Proposed use of Tenacious funding and support

The awardees will commit to:

• Continuing to work on the identified campaign issue for 12 months from the date of the award.

• Committing to strengthen the sustainability of their campaigns beyond the award year with tailored development support provided to help with this.

• Play a role in the Tenacious community, attending relevant group sessions, joining the online  channel, asking for help when you need it and offering that support in return to others 

• Attend the kick-off and diagnostic call with Changing Ideas

• Attend and present at the Tenacious annual event

• Track the impact of your campaigning work 

• Complete a mid-point check-in survey and an end of year questionnaire and call, and share the progress of your campaigning work during the year.

• Co-operate with The Tenacious Awards to publicise their awards including individual profiles and their campaigns (unless specifically agreed otherwise).