About Us

Who Are We?

38 Degrees is made up of more than 2 million people from all walks of life across the UK. We have different backgrounds and opinions, but we come together around our shared values.

38 Degrees helps make that happen, by giving people in every corner of the country the tools to make our voices heard on the issues we care about. In support of a campaign, we might sign an online petition to demonstrate how many of us care, write directly to our MPs as constituents around a key vote in Parliament or contact a CEO of a company as consumers to call for change, or we might start a conversation online with friends and family to spread the word. Those of us directly affected by campaigns may also share our own story. 

In the space of a week, millions of supporters could be campaigning to give our NHS frontline workers the pay rise they deserve, to a whole host of other issues that affect our daily lives – from school meals and saving local libraries, to reducing the minimum fee people have to pay to top up their gas meters. Supporters also chip in to fund expert research and run adverts in local and national newspapers to amplify our voices. Together, we run campaigns which help make Britain a better and fairer place to live. 

Hundreds if not thousands of 38 Degrees supporters can be found in every constituency in the UK.   
38 Degrees is independent. The 2 million of us who take part vote for all political parties and none, and we’re 100% funded by tens of thousands of small donations from members of the public. 

How we make change

Here are some examples of some campaign wins and how 38 Degrees contributed:

No Deal Brexit

38 Degrees supporters voted Leave and Remain – the 2 million people on our list, much like the country, were split on the issue. But when it came to a no-deal Brexit and the impact on the daily lives of our supporters, from the hit to manufacturing in the West Midlands to farming, to the potential impact on the availability of prescription drugs, we came together across referendum lines to campaign against a damaging no-deal exit. 

We ran a powerful advertising campaign which looked beyond the ideological dividing lines and emphasised the impact of a no-deal outcome on real lives. It showcased leave and remain voters’ opposition and ran with the framing “We didn’t take back control to (put British farmers out of work in/put British manufacturing out of business/ run short of medicines we rely on)”. We also attempted to make this national issue feel relevant to people’s local areas, using modelled data about job losses in different areas of the country.

At the time, with a minority government and many Parliamentary votes on no-deal coming down to a knife edge, we decided to target Conservative MPs with this campaign. Working with other leading Conservative MPs we ran a targeted campaign with a petition at 150k, powerful adverts in local papers and, in the end, a total of 260,000 personal emails sent from members of the public to critical MPs calling on them to vote against a no-deal which would damage their constituencies and local interests. The pressure worked – with enough Conservative MPs rebelling to prevent the outcome.

Save Our BBC

When government plans to “whack” the BBC emerged last year, we started running a sustained campaign to prove public support for the public broadcaster by emphasising what it means to our daily lives and the importance of an impartial voice in today’s world. Mobilising hundreds of thousands of members of the public immediately against the government’s plans, we showcased significant public opposition. So when the Department for Culture Media and Sport opened a “consultation” about the future of the license fee, and therefore the BBC itself, we kicked into action – informing members of the public, and presenting them with an opportunity to have their voices heard.

From a total of 154,000 responses the government received to, 106,000 were our supporters personally taking part in the consultation – 89,000 of whom were against decriminalisation.

In publishing their reply to the consultation, the government agreed to not “push forward” with their original plans and coverage in The Times cited our supporters’ role in presenting public opposition to the plans, which swayed the outcome.

Vaccine campaign

And Finally here is an example of our supporters being the best messengers for our campaigns. Here supporters from across the country encourage others to take up their Coronavirus vaccine appointment when offered – an example of members of the public sharing videos with people who look and sound like them to persuade/encourage their networks, friends and family into behavioural change.

38 Degrees as a platform for the public to create change

Every day 38 Degrees’ supporters up and down the country are launching and running campaigns on our website, not just to make the UK a better place but to have a real impact where they live too. From protecting local green spaces to supporting local services we regularly help members of the public win campaigns on the local issues that matter most to them. Through our website, people can set up petitions, email their supporters and even organise events. We have a team of campaigners who give petition starters phone support, promote their campaigns on emails to our mailing list and help them draft up press releases and more.

Here’s a sample of some of the recent local campaigns that people have run, and won, through our website:

Saving a free meals scheme in Newham London
Stop the salmon industry expansion around Arron in Scotland
Saving a post office in Norwich

But it’s not just on local issues that members of the public launch campaigns with us. Sometimes our biggest national campaigns are launched by members of the public on our website. 

Case Study: Geraint vs Walkers Crisps

When Geraint a grandad from Wales was told off by his granddaughter for putting crisp packets in the recycling bin, he decided to do something about it. So he set up a 38 Degrees petition calling on Walkers Crisps to make their crisp packets recyclable. Our team phoned him up, and helped him promote and grow the petition, it spread like wildfire and soon hundreds of thousands of people had joined him.

What happened next was a rollercoaster for Geraint, where he met with the bosses of Pepsico (Walker’s parent company), he helped us come up with a cunning stunt to post crisp packets back to Walkers which made national news, and even ended up on the BBC One Show.

Shortly after, Walkers announced the UKs first ever crisp packet recycling scheme, now currently live in thousands of locations across the country.