Remember homeless children this Christmas, says Archbishop

The Archbishop of Canterbury has appealed to the nation to spare a thought for the 130,000 homeless children in the UK this Christmas.

Speaking during his Pause for Thought on Terry Wogan's BBC Radio 2 programme, Dr Rowan Williams said, "We sing quite a bit about 'Tidings of comfort and joy' at this time of year. But it would be a pity if we felt Christmas ought to be a time when we turned our faces away from uncomfortable things in our society.

"Surely it ought to be a time when we summon up courage to confront a few issues - simply because it's a time when we are more conscious than ever of the good things that have been given to us, material good things to celebrate with, and also, if you're a Christian, the biggest gift of all, the birth of Jesus."

Research published in a report from shadow housing minister Grant Schapps last week claimed that there are 130,000 homeless children in the UK - a 128 per cent rise in the number of homeless children since 1997.

The Archbishop said that although not all of Britain's homeless children would be literally sleeping on the streets, "a lot of the problem is about children who don't have the security of a proper home", he said, because their families are in temporary accommodation, they have been evicted from social housing or they are having difficulties because of immigration regulations.

He said he was "really glad" to see "a rising tide of concern" about the state of childhood in Britain, adding that social policy and lawmakers should be asking "What exactly is the impact of this on children?"

"Because if we have a situation where children are deprived of the opportunity of living in a secure home, or where they live in prison-like conditions, as in some detention centres, there's something wrong," said Dr Williams.

The Archbishop encouraged people to become more informed on issues of homelessness in their area, particularly homeless children and young people.

"The Christmas story is about a child born away from a proper home, whose family end up as refugees. And that child was literally the most precious thing in the world. But every child is precious, we all know that," he said. "Se we can start thinking how we can raise other people's awareness and do something to help, perhaps by supporting Shelter or the Runaway Helpline or Childline."

Reaffirming the strong Christian tradition of giving to others in need, Dr Williams concluded, "[...]I hope everyone will have a wonderfully happy Christmas - but let it stir us up to make a few others happy too."