The Barbellion Prize originated as a personal venture of the writer Jake Goldsmith to encourage the appreciation of writing on chronic illness and disability. As the prize grew in reputation and the volume of submissions increased it became necessary to engage a committee to ensure a solid financial foundation for the prize, to undertake administrative tasks and to put in place the policies and practices necessary to our application to attain charitable status in the UK.

Following a hiatus the Prize is relaunched in 2025 ahead of the 2026 submission window. Our Committee brings experience from across academia, publishing and the charity sector and we seek to engage with others who have experience in marketing, promotion, donor management and who can bring a wide range of skills to help towards our realising the aims of the Prize. For now we remain an unincorporated charitable organisation seeking charitable status by application to the UK Charities Commission. The Committee are all volunteers and manage the Prize funds held in a Community bank account.

The Committee is chaired by Jake Goldsmith. As of September 2025 the other members include: David Collard, Riva Lehrer, Prof. Tom Shakespeare FBA and Jacob Smullyan.