Welcome

It is exciting to see a new wave of social and political enthusiasm in the Church today, bringing with it real hope for the future. Supporting this surge of Christian involvement is CAREs Institute for Faith & Culture (IFC) and its long-standing Leadership Programme. Combining cutting-edge Christian thinking with the practical experience of voluntary educational placements, the Programme equips graduates to think seriously about our faith, our increasingly secular culture, and how they t together. More than 220 people have now graduated through the Programme and are making a real contribution to their world; playing their part in changing the future. I hope you will consider joining them!

Christ-centred Minds
There is no doubt in my mind that the establishment of the Leadership Programme is one of the most strategic decisions CARE has ever made. Christian graduates are given the opportunity to explore how to live out their faith as they meet and learn from leaders in the public arena; and actively engage in the world of policy, whether in Westminster, in Edinburgh, in the media, or in the third sector. In my travels I now meet past members of the Programme who testify that it has equipped them for a lifetime of integrity and service; making a Christian difference in positions of significant influence in the institutions of our national life.

Nola Leach Director, IFC Chief Executive, CARE

Rev Lyndon Bowring Executive Chairman, CARE Co-Founder with Charlie Colchester of the IFC

How Does it Work?

The Leadership Programme begins with an Induction commencing in early September which provides the foundation for the ensuing eleven months. Each term is roughly 13 weeks long and comprises of volunteering in an educational placement for four days a week, attending a day of lectures and seminars every Friday, one residential Study Weekend and several additional daytime and evening events. You will be required to engage in project work, presentations and essays each term, with the intention of consolidating what you are learning. As this is purely an educational Programme, particpiants are at no time asked to lobby on behalf of CARE.

Placements
For nearly twenty years, graduates have been placed in a variety of voluntary placements in parliament, the media and the third sector. Graduates are given the opportunity to engage in a range of activities including research, public relations, marketing, drafting press releases and speeches, administrative tasks, film production and advocacy and campaigning. CARE has enjoyed excellent placement partnerships over the years and demand for our volunteers constantly outstrips our ability to supply them. For more information on the types of placements Programme members have been involved with over the past few years go to:

www.care.org.uk/leadershipprogramme

Who can Apply?

Applicants should consider the following:
Education: Applicants should have a strong academic
record to degree level. Those applying are usually recent graduates. Placements will be appropriate to the interests and skills of successful applicants.

Faith: CAREs Statement of Faith, which can be found on

our website, is the driving force behind everything we do. Therefore, you are expected to understand and be in agreement with the Statement. For more information, go to www.care.org.uk/about All candidates need to possess good interpersonal skills and enthusiasm, an excellent ability to communicate and, above all, a willingness to serve.

Experience: Applicants should have been involved in

politics, media or social action at a grassroots or national level. You may have done some voluntary work for a charity or been involved in community projects, student politics, a university newspaper, or radio station.

Funding
CARE provides an educational bursary for the duration of the Programme and covers the costs of the Induction, Study Weekends and any Programme-related travel. We are happy to advise on various avenues for personal fundraising and would not want any potential applicants to be deterred by the financial aspect of the Programme.

Applying
If you are interested in applying for a place on CAREs Leadership Programme, you will need to complete an application form, which can be found online at www.care.org.uk/leadershipprogramme. For more information about the Programme please visit our website or email the IFC team at leadershipprogramme@care.org.uk The closing date for applications is 5pm on Tuesday 15 November 2011. The compulsory Selection Day will take place in London on Thursday 1 December 2011. If you are successful at this stage, CARE will then match candidates with a suitable placement. The Leadership Programme runs from the beginning of September 2012 until the end of July 2013, with a certain amount of pre-reading required prior to the Induction.

For almost two decades the CARE Leadership Programme has been equipping thoughtful and politically intelligent young men and women for a lifetime of engagement in the public sphere, underpinned by the radical imperatives for service that their faith requires. Offering practical experience, intellectual rigour and a community of learning, the Programme is an invaluable year for those considering a call to cultural leadership. A good number are now active in politics, some are MPs and others are working successfully in the broadcast media as creative leaders and in other social impact organisations. It has achieved its objectives. I warmly commend it.
Mark A. Noll

Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE

CARE is a mainstream Christian charity that provides resources and helps to bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy and practical caring initiatives. CARE is represented in the UK Parliaments and Assemblies, at the EU in Brussels and the UN in Geneva and New York. CARE (Christian Action, Research & Education) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales at 53 Romney Street, London, SW1P 3RF Company No: 3481417, Charity No: 1066963, Scottish Charity , No: SC038911
Executive Chairman: Rev Lyndon Bowring Chief Executive: Nola Leach

CARE 53 Romney Street London SW1P 3RF

T 020 7233 0455 F 020 7233 0983 W www.care.org.uk