Gavin Drake

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = Gavin Drake
caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = 3 April 1970
birthplace = Little Bloxwich, Walsall
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Journalist
nationality = British
period = 1992 - present
genre =
subject = News, Politics, Religion, Crime, Naval and Military Affairs
movement =
spouse = Jill Saward
children =
relatives =
influences =
influenced =


website = http://www.drake-comms.co.uk

Gavin Drake (born 3 April 1970) is a British journalist, broadcaster, sports commentator and communications consultant. He was born in Little Bloxwich, Walsall and was educated at Little Bloxwich Church of England JMI School, Butts Primary School and Manor Farm Community School.

Career

He began his journalism career with the UK-based [http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk Cross Rhythms] contemporary Christian music magazine, following the traditional route of making cups of coffee before working his way up through collating information for the gig guide, preparing news items and eventually writing features. He eventually left the magazine having achieved the status of assistant editor.

In 2003 Drake switched to news reporting and covered Devon and Cornwall as a freelance journalist working for Sky News, ITN and GMTV; London News Radio and Independent Radio News; and The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Daily Mail, The Sun and the News of the World.

Three years later he moved to the Midlands and began work as a political-based public relations consultant working for a number of Liberal Democrat candidates leading up to the 1997 General Election and for "Liberal Democrat News" - the UK's only weekly party political newspaper for whom he wrote a photo-journalism feature on "the day in the life of Paddy Ashdown on the campaign trail."

After the election, Drake joined the Evangelical Alliance in London, first as communications officer then senior communications officer [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/699929.stm] [http://www.wfn.org/1999/02/msg00060.html] [http://www.e-n.org.uk/p-2900-Making-us-accountable.htm] . While here he was the senior press officer for the Black Church leaders' Millennium conference which the then-Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister Tony Blair addressed hours after it emerged that his son Euan had been arrested for being Drunk and Disorderly in Leicester Square ["The Blair Years - Extracts from Alastair Campbell Diaries (Random House, ISBN 978-0-09-179629-7) pp 463-464] . He served as a member of the Council of the Churches Advisory Council for Local Broadcasting (CACLB) where he served as a judge for the Andrew Cross Awards and re-wrote the Council's constitution, making it the [http://www.churchesmediacouncil.org.uk Churches Media Council]

In November 2000 Drake left the Evangelical Alliance to set up a second consultancy. Clients included his former employers at the Evangelical Alliance, for whom he set up and managed a press office in Malaysia for the World Evangelical Fellowship's General Assembly, which met every four years. This including the creation of a temporary radio studio which was used to broadcast Premier Radio's breakfast programme during the duration of the assembly. The Assembly was the first occasion that the Muslim Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamed, addressed a specifically Christian gathering.

During this time he also co-wrote the report Faith in Life [http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=churchlife.content&cmid=550] [http://www.urc.org.uk/reform_magazine/articles/who_says_the_church_is_dead/index.htm] . Published by Churches Information for Mission, a coalition of Christian groups including the [http://www.baptist.org.uk Baptist Union of Great Britain] , [http://www.cofe.anglican.org Church of England] , [http://www.methodist.org.uk Methodist Church] , [http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf Salvation Army] , [http://www.urc.org.uk United Reformed Church] , [http://www.bakerbooks.co.uk Baker Books] , [http://www.biblesociety.org.uk Bible Society] , [http://www.cms-uk.org Church Mission Society] , [http://www.christianaid.org.uk Christian Aid] , [http://www.christianchildrensfund.org Christian Children's Fund (Great Britain)] , [http://www.csw.org.uk Christian Solidarity Worldwide] , [http://www.churches-together.net Churches Together in England] , [http://www.ctbi.org.uk/index.php?op=modload&name=knowledge&file=index&viewCat=10 Churches Commission on Mission (CTBI)] , [http://www.eauk.org Evangelical Alliance] , [http://www.churches-together.net/Group/Group.aspx?id=42986 Free Churches Council] , [http://www.maranatha.co.uk Maranatha Tours] , [http://www.premier.org.uk Premier Christian Radio] , [http://www.tearfund.org Tearfund] and the United Society for Christian Literature.

"Faith in Life" was the first results from the National Church Life Census - on Sunday 29th April 2001 some 100,000 churchgoers throughout England were quizzed about their faith for the Church Life Profile. The exercise was one of the largest surveys ever undertaken in England. Faith in Life provided an initial national overview of the survey results.

Drake's other clients included World Vision, where he was the launch editor of their World View e-newsletter and the World Methodist Council for whom he created and operated a radio studio during their gathering in Brighton.

In 2002, Drake closed the consultancy to begin work as Director of Communications for the Bishop and Diocese of Lichfield. Here he co-created the Songs from the Aisles competition with BBC Radio Stoke [http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2004/12/20/faith_songs_from_the_aisles_feature.shtml] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2007/09/10/songs_from_aisles_result_2007_feature.shtml] .

Churches which take part in the station's [http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/radiopages/ipog.shtml In Praise of God] weekly broadcast act of worship are whittled down to four by a panel of judges. The four then compete in a sing-off final broadcast on the station over four Sundays in August. A mixture of judges and public voting decides the overall "BBC Radio Stoke champion congregation" which receives a £500 cheque and a crystal cross.

Under his management the Lichfield Diocesan Newspaper Spotlight has won an Andrew Cross industry award as best regional religious newspaper [http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/faith/stories/monthbymonth.shtml] in June 2005; and was highly commended the following year.

As Director of Communications Drake acts as the press officer and spokesman for the organisation. In 2007 he received a "certificate of appreciation" from the Chief Constable of Staffordshire for his work following the theft of a woman's body from Yoxall Churchyard by animal rights extremists [http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/2007/02_feb/26_yoxall.htm] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/4971988.stm] .

In 2003 Drake was appointed pitch-side announcer at Walsall Football Club's Bescot Stadium [http://www.saddlers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10428~996704,00.html] [http://www.saddlers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10428~932025,00.html] . In addition to announcing substitutions and goal scorers, he runs the half-time and pre-match entertainment; including Hit the Bar to Hit the Bar competition, where two fans attempt to hit the crossbar from a single kick from the half way line. If they succeed they win £10,000.

He is married to Jill Saward, the notable rape victim advocate. His father-in-law is the hymn writer Michael Saward and his brother-in-law is the F1 Journalist Joe Saward.

References