Chronic food poverty exists in Britain, even in rural communities, exacerbated by higher food, transport, and fuel costs. Research shows that these additional costs average £3,000 per year – the ‘premium’ for living in rural areas. Pray for churches both to help and speak up for those without sufficient income to feed themselves or their families (see endhungeruk.org). Village primary schools are often at the heart of their communities, but many face closure due to falling numbers. A Church of England summit took place in November to consider how to deal with this problem, especially as it affects the CofE’s 2,000 rural schools. Pray that the solutions proposed will be effective in securing a future for village schools and in providing focuses for community life.

Part of a declaration by Passion for the Nation: ‘Father, We thank You for the call on the UK to display Your righteousness and justice. We praise You for our heritage of godly justice, and we decree, this is a time for a reawakening of Kingdom values within our justice system. May the God-given sovereignty and order of governmental authority for this nation, judicial and legislative, be restored for the United Kingdom. In the Name of Jesus, we speak godly design over every aspect of the Brexit settlement in relation to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, Criminal Justice , Civil Law and Legal Services and for Heaven’s schedule in every aspect of the transitional period, so that no plan of man or of the enemy will alter either Your timing or Your purpose.’

On 1 December, to mark World AIDS Day, Margaret Sentamu, wife of the Archbishop of York, joined NHS staff from York’s sexual health services and charity Yorkshire MESMAC to highlight the importance of taking a HIV test.  Demonstrating how simple it can be, Margaret took a finger prick test where the result can be given within twenty minutes. She said: ‘It’s important to raise awareness - not just for one day, but all year round - of the importance of getting tested. There have been fantastic advances in medication which means people can now live a completely normal life, particularly when they get an early diagnosis.’ Margaret recalled the devastating impact of losing family and friends to AIDS in her home country of Uganda. While the HIV epidemic is slowing in the UK, nearly half of people who test positive are finding out they have HIV very late, meaning that it virus may already have damaged their health permanently. Over 100,000 people live with HIV, and around a quarter of them don’t know they’re HIV positive.

Participants at the UN climate talks in Poland have discussed how they will keep promises made in 2015 to reduce their climate footprint by 2020. Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide and methane emissions increase, trapping solar energy. As more gases enter the atmosphere, earth’s temperature rises rise; changing the timing and length of seasons and the amount and frequency of rainfall - rising sea levels, flooding, droughts and a range of ecosystem changes affecting life on earth. Two years ago, research found (see) that widespread adoption of vegetarian diets would cut food-related emissions by 63%. There are 3.6 billion sheep, cattle, goats and buffalo on the planet, 50% more than fifty years ago. Methane from their digestive systems is the single biggest human-related source of greenhouse gas. This is a great concern to the livestock industry worldwide. See also