The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, has met with former Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Lambeth Palace to discuss the role churches can play in tackling poverty and improving opportunities for children and families.
The meeting, held on 10 September, also involved the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, who is the Church of England’s lead bishop on poverty and child poverty.
Details of the private discussion have not been released, but Archbishop Mullally said afterwards that they had discussed how churches across Britain and the Anglican Communion are supporting their communities and helping address poverty.
The meeting comes at a significant time for the Church of England’s campaign against child poverty. Bishop Snow has repeatedly called for stronger action to tackle poverty, including changes to policies affecting families with children.
In March this year, he addressed the House of Lords on the impact of the two-child benefit limit, arguing that poverty was not simply a question of household finances but could also bring shame and affect people's sense of worth.
There is also growing evidence of the scale of practical support already being provided by churches. Research published this month by the Gather Movement found that 1,632 churches and Christian charities across 25 local authority areas were running 12,840 regular community activities. These included food provision, debt advice, mental-health support, youth work, family activities and help for people facing homelessness.
If the findings are representative of England's estimated 33,000 churches, the researchers say they could amount to around 250,000 essential community services each week.
Around half of the activities identified by the research focus specifically on children and families.
Brown has made tackling poverty a major part of his work since leaving Downing Street. He is currently president of The Multibank, a charity which works with businesses and community organisations to redistribute surplus household goods to people experiencing material poverty.
In February, the organisation announced a new £2.4 million partnership with Centrica to expand support for families across Britain.
