Ask your MP to support non-religious pastoral care in the armed forces

Ask your MP if they will make representations on your behalf to the Secretary of State for Defence calling for a review into pastoral care and chaplaincy services in the armed forces, to ensure that all service personnel receive support no matter what their religion or belief. 

The availability of high-quality pastoral support, tailored to individual belief systems, is essential to supporting service people through the challenges of their careers and to enhance the fighting effectiveness of the armed forces. 

However, there is currently no dedicated pastoral support for the non-religious. This is despite some 56,000 regular and reserve personnel identifying as non-religious, the second largest belief group after Christians. Non-religious personnel only have access to pastoral care provided almost exclusively by Christian chaplaincy, which is not suitable for their needs.

We’ve suggested some text you can use, but please, if you are able, do edit it to make it more personal – we know that MPs are more likely to take notice of personalised emails and queries, which are infinitely more powerful than standard letters.