wfn.org | Churches call for prevention of family breakdown

["EAUK Press Office" <press@eauk.org>]

For Immediate Release:  22nd July 1998			

Churches are calling for an end to years of piecemeal government
policy towards families and are urging Home Secretary, Jack
Straw, to support the prevention of family breakdown as a
Government priority. 

On the eve of a major speech on the family by the Home Secretary
(Thursday 23rd July), the Evangelical Alliance UK, says surveys
it has conducted of church-based community projects caring for
7,000 families reveal a desperate need for preventative work
through practical, relational and spiritual support for families
under pressure. The Alliance, which represents over a million
churchgoers from 30 denominations, is urging:

*    an end to piecemeal policies driven by short-term political
considerations, and greater co-ordination among government
departments in tackling family breakdown.

*    greater support, particularly from Social Services, for
church family support schemes, often the only chance for
friendship and belonging on some of the worst run-down estates.

*    family-friendly policies in employment, and also in
education, such as ensuring that sex and family education has a
moral framework.

*    a review and expansion of churches' support for families in
crisis.

Says Martyn Eden, public affairs director of the Alliance: "We
welcome the Home Secretary's commitment to preserving family
life, but we recognise there are limits to what the Government
can achieve in this personal sphere. We must all take more
account of the effects that our personal choices and behaviour
have on others if we are to prevent society's slide towards a
kind of moral anarchy."

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Keith Ewing, kewing@eauk.org 
0171 207 2116 or + 44 171 207 2116 

or
Gavin Drake, gdrake@eauk.org
0171 207 2117 or + 44 171 207 2117

Evangelical Alliance UK,
Whitefield House,
186 Kennington Park Road,
London, SE11  4BT

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