the first 48 hours and achieved its target of 100,000 supporters on 30 November 2013. An outspoken opponent of welfare reform by the government, she uses her public profile to raise issues about disability and fight for what she believes would be a fairer system. Martinez said: "As a disabled person in the media, I want to help give this issue a voice. It's morally wrong for the government to target those in need instead of saving money by targeting the real causes of this crisis – and close tax loopholes and regulate the financial sector. To me, it's a human rights issue." She is patron of a number of charities. She has challenged the government in numerous TV interviews, including on Newsnight and This Week, and in other TV appearances such as Question Time. In 2015 she helped organise This Changes Everything, a one-day event on climate and social justice, with Naomi Klein, Russell Brand, and many other speakers. The event was streamed globally and aimed to kick-start a movement to unify the left against climate change. In 2013 she was nominated for a Women in Public Life Award, and won the Public Affairs Achiever of the Year Award. In April 2014 she was named as one of Britain's most influential women in the BBC Woman's Hour power list 2014. She was also nominated for Red Magazine's Woman of the Year Award 2014 and for a European Diversity Hero of the Year Award 2014. She has received honorary doctorates from the Open University and Bradford University. In July 2015, Martinez endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. In 2016, along with other celebrities, Martinez toured the UK to support Corbyn's bid to become Prime Minister. In September 2016, she performed at the Keep Corbyn rally in Brighton in support of Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. In November 2019, along with other public figures, Martinez signed a letter supporting Corbyn, describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 general election. In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, she signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises