Some rays of hope amid Britain’s crumbling social infrastructure | Letters
by Letters from on (#4NC1G)
Eddie Tulasiewicz of the National Churches Trust, Clare MacInnes, Chris Weeks, Cllr Iain Malcolm of South Tyneside council and Martin Davies respond to an article by Aditya Chakrabortty
Aditya Chakrabortty suggests churches have gone from many suburban areas (The blackouts summed up a crisis of our public spaces, 14 August). But our research shows that there are around 40,300 church buildings in the UK open to the public and being used for worship - more than the UK's 39,000 pubs.
As well as being places of worship, church buildings benefit the wider community, being used for playgroups, lunch clubs, food banks, and social and cultural activities including concerts and exhibitions.
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