A BISHOP has urged people to remember the homeless at Christmas.

The Right Reverend Mark Bryant, the Bishop of Jarrow, used his Christmas message to address the issue of homelessness in the North-East, focusing particularly on the plight of children.

Highlighting research suggesting 90,000 youngsters will wake up homeless on Christmas morning, he said: “I find it almost impossible to imagine what living life like that would feel like to me.

“I find it almost impossible to imagine how I would feel if I were a dad waking up on Christmas morning in those conditions.

“The Christmas story tries to say that God who made the world becomes a human being to show that every single human being is of equal and absolute worth to God.”

Bishop Bryant is a supporter of the De-Paul Nightstop project, which aims to give homeless young people a bed for the night in other people’s homes.

Concluding his festive address, he said: “May this Christmas be one of much joy but also of deep awareness of where joy is missing.

“May it be one where generosity marks us all. May it be one where together we commit to a better future, especially for those in most need in our society and across the world.”