Lucas and Thompson spoke at a meeting in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1876 which stimulated the founding of the BWTA and the White Ribbon Association. Lucas was elected BWTA president, in 1878, but she also supported peace and anti-prostitution work, and served on the executive committees of the National Society for Women's Suffrage and the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. Her main concern being temperance, she remained BWTA president until her death. In 1885, American WCTU leader Frances Willard selected Lucas as first president of the World's WCTU. This emphasised the organisation's global commitment. Consequently, Lucas crossed the Atlantic again in 1886 to attend the WCTU convention in Minneapolis, at which she was warmly received.