ROSS HENDRY CEO of CARE
DEAR FRIEND,
September 2024
It has now been two months since the General Election. Like you, I was surprised by the sudden announcement. Most of our planning had been based on an Autumn election. But one of the things I admire most about the team here at CARE is that they are rarely fazed! A lot of work on our election website, engaGE24, had already been done and within 24 hours, the site was launched. When I came to CARE as CEO, I said supporting and equipping the Church at election times should be one of our top priorities. As a team we challenged ourselves to go bigger and better than ever before. Looking back, I’m thrilled with the level of engagement with our engaGE24 site. The policy quiz especially received nearly 40,000 responses and the overall site had more than 150,000 page views, reaching tens of thousands of people. But it was not only the site: our team launched a new election podcast which collected thousands of views and we have laid the groundwork for an audience for the future. We distributed more than 25,000 Prayer Diaries, and we used the election time to contact all candidates to make introductions and start the work of building relationships with the 350 new MPs in the House of Commons. Now the transition from one government to another has happened, we have a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet. The King’s Speech included an unusually high number of Bills, including some draft ones. We noted especially the Children’s Welfare Bill, which presents both opportunities for engagement and challenges. The Conversion Practices Ban, which could impact Christian freedoms, appeared, but in draft form, which means it will receive additional scrutiny. This is a good thing and gives a fresh chance for the Church to engage. In the post-election private members’ bill ballot in the House of Lords, Lord Falconer’s Assisted