Bishop of Willesden Blows the Whistle on Global Poverty

It may not have been the FA Cup Final, but there was an exciting penalty shoot-out at the Brigade Field in Roxeth on Sunday 20 May with the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, scoring an impressive goal in the fight against global poverty.

Bishop Pete and a team of local Christians put on their football shirts and blew whistles at half-time in support of the Blow the Whistle Campaign urging the government to implement the Millennium Development Goals to halve extreme world poverty by 2015.

Other MDGs aim to achieve universal primary education, reduce child mortality and combat HIV and Aids.

At the halfway point to the 2015 deadline, so far none of the goals set out at the United Nations Summit in 2000 have yet been achieved.

Bishop Pete said: "We need to hit all eight of these crucial goals in the next few years. We are now in the second half and so far not a single goal has been scored. The government really need to raise their game if we are going to win this match.

"If they don't the consequences include 5,000 children dying every day from drinking dirty water; more than five million people living with HIV/AIDS without access to medicines; 39 million children in war torn countries not going to school and life expectancy falling in Africa."

After a team photo, the players signed a message to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown urging them to redouble their efforts in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.