The Campaign was established by the Academy of Social Sciences and was formally launched at the House of Lords in January 2011, at an event that featured speakers including Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Polly Toynbee, the Guardian columnist, and David Willetts, the then Universities and Science Minister in the Coalition Government.
The Campaign receives no state funding, and relies on donations and sponsorship; among its sponsors are 50 universities, 23 learned societies, six publishers and two charities.
[2] The Campaign has urged the restoration of the post of Government Chief Social Science Advisor, which was removed in 2010 when the role was downgraded and split between two people who also have other responsibilities.
As of December 2013, the Campaign had held 19 roadshows at universities around the UK to emphasise the value and importance of social science and to encourage support and donations.
[4] The Campaign held a launch for the latest booklet in its Making the Case for the Social Sciences, in November 2013, on mental wellbeing; speakers including Professor Lord Richard Layard and Andy Burnham, Shadow Secretary of State for Health.