Take the Lead: Data Champions offers the opportunity for up to 20 community leaders across the UK to receive £3,000 to deliver activities that engage their community organisation’s audiences with the role of data in supporting health and wellbeing, connect with other leaders, develop confidence with using data to support their community and build relationships with data scientists to inform how data is used in research.
These activities need to take place at any point between Monday 8 February to Sunday 20 June 2027.
To be eligible, community leaders must be:
Based at an established UK-based community organisation with an organisational bank account (they cannot fund individuals). For example, you might be your organisation’s programme or project manager, activity leader or founder.
Available to attend the Data Champions welcome event for the whole day on Tuesday 23 February 2027 in Bristol in person (attendance is compulsory).
Able to deliver Take the Lead activities between Monday 8 February – Sunday 20 June 2027. Activities can be delivered at any point during this period.
Able to provide evidence that they could act as a champion for data in their communities, are interested in developing their data engagement skills, can influence the direction of the Take the Lead activities and share insights from the programme with their colleagues and wider community. You do not need to have a specific job title or seniority to be eligible, they are interested in leaders at all levels of an organisation that can demonstrate these qualities.
They are looking for applications from leaders from any eligible organisation, including those who have previously received Take the Lead funding and those that have not.
You do not have to have any experience of data, science or research to take part.
Leaders based in community organisations who work with one or more of the following priority audiences, based in the UK, are eligible to apply for funding. These audiences have been selected based on HDR UK’s 2025 desk review to understand which groups are less likely to be engaged with health data:
- People from low socio-economic backgrounds
- People from minority ethnic backgrounds
- Older children and young adults aged 11–25 (especially in areas of deprivation)
- People over 65 (especially in areas of deprivation)
- People living in rural areas (defined as settlements of fewer than 10,000 people in England and Wales, fewer than 5,000 in Northern Ireland, and fewer than 3,000 in Scotland)
- People experiencing digital exclusion
They are looking for community leaders to run activities for their communities exploring at least one of the following health and wellbeing topics through data:
- Brain health (for example, dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.)
- Cancer
- Environment and health (for example, access to nature, air pollution, etc.)
- Heart health
- Sustainable and healthy diets (for example, eating locally sourced foods, reducing food waste, etc.)
- Young people’s mental health
They are looking for new and creative ideas to engage your community with data that are tailored to their interests and needs. The more evidence you can provide that your activities are specific and tailored to your audience interests and needs, the better the chance your application has in being successful.
The deadline for applications is midday (12 noon) on Monday 2 November 2026.