A BISHOP has used his Easter message to praise people working to tackle social ills.

The Right Reverend Mark Bryant, the Bishop of Jarrow, said there was a “rising tide” of homelessness and rough-sleeping, which was worse in the North-East than anywhere else in the country.

But he also spoke of stories of hope – people finding work after being unemployed; offering the homeless a bed; and working as hard as teachers with challenging children, vicars in difficult areas and counsellors helping people to cope with debt.

“Hope breeds hope. The more hopeful we can be, the more hope there is for all of us,” Bishop Bryant said, pointing people to the Easter message of Jesus dying and rising to new life.