Words Matter Community Organisers 2026/27 (apply by 28.09) + Free workshops
Words Matter explores how the language and stories told about migration shape what becomes politically possible: who is seen to belong, who is constructed as deserving, and how violence against migrant communities becomes normalised. The programme supports organisers to understand and challenge those narratives, and then put that work into practice in the communities, campaigns and spaces they are already part of.
From October 2026 – March 2027, around 7–8 organisers will receive:
- a £600 stipend
- three days of core training on 19, 22 and 23 October
- support to develop and deliver at least two Words Matter interventions
- ongoing political education, peer learning and organising opportunities
- the opportunity to join MRN’s wider pool of organisers and facilitators for future paid work
Applications close at 23:59 on 28 September.
Find out more + apply: https://migrantsrights.org.uk/projects/wordsmatter/words-matter-community-org anisers-wmco-2026-27/
Come and experience Words Matter first
As part of recruitment, we’re also running two free open Words Matter workshops in September.
These are primarily aimed at people considering applying to the programme, and people from communities directly affected by harmful migration narratives. But you absolutely do not need to be planning to apply to attend. If you’re curious about Words Matter, want to experience the workshop, or want to explore how language and narratives shape migration politics, you’re very welcome.
Wednesday 16 September, 6–8pm – in person, London
Monday 21 September, 6–8pm – online
Book a free workshop:
https://docs.google.com/forms/
You can also join us an hour early on 16 September for the opening of Between Homes: Redefining Migration, taking place at the same venue as the in-person workshop. It’s a chance to see work from previous Words Matter organisers and get a feel for some of the directions people have taken their organising and creative practice since the programme.
Our first WMCO cohort delivered around 30 workshops to more than 260 people across London. Since then, organisers have taken the work in different directions: running their own events, speaking on panels and at talks, developing their organisations and facilitation beyond MRN, joining campaigns and further MRN programmes, working with film festivals and making their own films; one organiser has since become a councillor.
The programme is intended to be a beginning rather than an endpoint. After training, organisers can continue shaping MRN’s narrative change work and join our wider pool of organisers and facilitators, with further paid facilitation, organising and capacity-building opportunities as work develops.
Words Matter is also increasingly moving beyond workshops. Our recent work with Lush, for example, has taken migrant-defined narratives into shopfronts across more than 100 stores: experimenting with what narrative intervention can look like, where it can happen and who it can reach.
We’re particularly keen to reach migrants and migratised people who are rooted in communities and already involved in organising, campaigning or some form of collective struggle – whether through a community, organisation, campaign, institution or place where they want to shift something.
We've attached some short WhatsApp copy, flyers, and a ready-to-forward email if helpful. Please share them directly with communities, organisers and organisations you think should see this.
And if your organisation would be interested in hosting or commissioning a Words Matter workshop separately, you can find out more here:
https://migrantsrights.org.uk/
