Gavin Drake

This is the personal website of Gavin Drake.

Gavin Drake is a writer, editor, and producer at Church Street Bureau, a new small company providing writing, editorial and videography services.

Gavin Drake contributes opinion pieces and features for publications in his main areas of expertise, which include gender-based violence, ecclesiastical law, and the Holy Land.

He will do this alongside his campaigning work against gender-based violence, both individually and through The Jill Saward Organisation, which was established to continue the 30-year campaign begun by his first wife, Jill Saward, who died in January 2017.

Much of his personal campaigning work is focused on the ongoing disastrous safeguarding failings of the Church of England. Information about this campaign is published at a dedicated website: churchabuse.uk.

He combines all this with a busy home life, with his wife Cate, a teacher and musician, three adult children and four step children.

Potted History

Between May 2019 and November 2023, he was the Director of Communications for the Anglican Communion, a family of 42 autonomous and independent-yet-interdependent national, pan-national and regional churches which trace their origins to Saint Augustine of Canterbury’s mission to convert the English in AD 595.

Gavin Drake was elected as a member of the Church of England’s General Synod by the laity of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham for the five year term beginning in 2021. He resigned on 10 July 2023 after the Business Committee and Archbishops’ Council worked to prevent debates on safeguarding reform.

Previously, Gavin Drake was a journalist who worked for a range of media outlets including BBC Radio Four, Reuters TV, Sky News, GMTV, London News Radio (now LBC), The Times, The Independent, Today, Church Times, The Jewish Chronicle, The Methodist Recorder and Cross Rhythms magazine.

Gavin Drake was, for 18 years, the pitch-side announcer for Walsall Football Club and had the privilege of addressing Walsall fans from the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium ahead of the 2015 Football League Trophy Final, which Walsall went on to lose 2-0.

Gavin Drake was the Director of Communications for the Bishop and Diocese of Lichfield between 2002 and 2011, and Communications Officer for the Evangelical Alliance UK between 1997 and 2000. In the early 1990s, he was the Assistant Manager of The Vine, which was then an alcohol free pub in Walsall town centre, established by the town’s churches. In this role, he regularly appeared as an expert commentator on television programmes including Kilroy, The Time The Place, Central Weekend Live and Thursday Night Live.