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Nearly 100,000 households sought food aid from the Trussell Trust’s network of food banks for the first time earlier this year, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Demand is surging further this autumn, as a result of the economic fallout from the virus. The research comes after food banks run or supported by Church...

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has joined more than 60 other anti-poverty charities to call on the Government to #KeepTheLifeline, and not lower the standard allowance of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £20 a week in April 2021, to the level at which it was before lockdown. A spokesman for CAP said: “We’re in...

The Children’s Society and Carers Trust have been helping teachers give more support to young carers, as they came back to school this autumn. Research suggests as many as one in five pupils in secondary schools in England are young carers. Because of the high numbers, the charities, who jointly run the Young Carers in...

New figures for the second quarter of 2020 show children accounted for 346 out of 409 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism – the system for identifying victims of modern slavery – which related to concerns about criminal exploitation through so-called county lines drug trafficking operations. The overall number of county lines referrals for all...

Following Rehman Chishti’s recent resignation as Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Open Doors, who works with the Persecuted Church, has called for another Special Envoy to be appointed as quickly as possible, “to continue this important work”. It was in September that Rehman Chishti MP resigned his position. He had...

Bible Society teams worldwide provided almost 3.7 million Scripture items for children last year.  More than 1.1 million children’s Scriptures were distributed in Egypt alone. This is the largest number for one nation, in a place where ministry with young people is a top priority. Through festivals, competitions and quizzes, the Bible Society of Egypt engages with hundreds of...

Report: The toll of lockdown on low-income families C of E Pensions Board helps launch a new Net Zero Investment Framework Church of England and RSCM await next steps on singing safety Turkey turns another church into a mosque Oppressed Christians struggling under Covid-19 Churches enjoy Zooming Our teenagers are the least happy in Europe...

Coronavirus has left low-income families struggling with a significant deterioration in living standards and high stress levels.  So warns a new report from Child Poverty Action Group and the Church of England. The report, Poverty in the pandemic: The impact of coronavirus on low-income families and children, is based on a survey of families with children...

A new ‘Net Zero Investment Framework’ provides the first-ever practical blueprint for investors to maximise the contribution they make in tackling climate change and achieving net zero emissions globally by 2050. The framework has been developed with over 70 global investors, representing more than USD 16tn in assets, including the Church of England Pensions Board. The initial...

The Church of England and Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) have been awaiting updated guidance on singing in places of worship after findings of a Government-backed study were published. The research project, known as ‘PERFORM’, recently published its findings on measuring aerosol production from humans.  It measured singing, speaking and breathing in a zero-background...

Just a month after converting the famous Hagia Sophia into a functioning mosque, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that another historic church has been turned into a place of Islamic worship. The historic Chora church, one of Istanbul’s most recognisable Byzantine buildings, was officially commissioned as a mosque in late August. The mediaeval church contains several 14th century...

Oppression and discrimination against Christians has increased during Covid, says Release International, which has launched an appeal to help Christians suffering during the pandemic. Many Christians have been denied food and relief aid and excluded from support systems during lockdown. They have been abandoned by families because of their faith and refused relief by governments and...