Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts

Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, also known as Churchill Travelling Fellowships, to provide an opportunity for applicants to travel overseas to conduct research in their chosen fields.

The Trusts were established in 1965, after the death of Churchill, by a combination of public subscription and government contributions.

The operating name of the UK Trust is The Churchill Fellowship.

In 1962 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh asked Churchill what type of memorial he would like the world to remember him by. He liked the idea of an unusual type of memorial, to be set up after his death, and suggested something like the Rhodes Scholarships, but available to everybody, on a wider basis. The concept was developed jointly by the English-Speaking Unions of the Commonwealth and of the United States. Several countries planned a nationwide appeal after Churchill's to set up a National Churchill Trust. The plans were kept secret at Lady Churchill’s request until after his death.

The Trusts were founded to "perpetuate and honour the memory of Sir Winston Churchill" by administering the award of travelling fellowships known as Churchill Fellowships.

An attempt in 1964 by then Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and former Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom George A. Drew to launch a fourth Trust in Canada did not come to fruition, in part due to the illness and death of the latter.

In 2019 The Queen granted permission for Churchill Fellows to use the post-nominal honorific CF; in 2021 the Trusts adopted the operating name of the Churchill Fellowship.

The UK Trust was founded on 1 February 1965, the day after Churchill's funeral. Queen Elizabeth II extended her Royal Patronage to the Trust in 1965.