IT’S hard to think of anyone who would disagree with the Bishop of Blackburn when he asks how ‘fat cat’ city financiers, who have had to be bailed out by taxpayers, can continue to draw bonuses.

But some might not be so happy at his highlighting that although there is “the scandal of continuing poverty in our own country most of us remain in the top three percent among the world’s wealthiest people.”

The fact that people in so much of the rest of the world daily worry where their next meal is coming from does put our present economic plight and the effects of the credit crunch into perspective.

That doesn’t, however, have to mean ignoring some of the very real issues that urgently need tackling closer to home.

The bishop calls on every church organisation in Lancashire to ask its members to walk or use public transport to get to meetings and be more environmentally sound.

They should also each cancel one meeting next year and use the time “to walk around the local community,” seek issues and look at ways of responding to them.

That’s an idea all kinds of businesses and organisations should take on board so many more of us can make a difference to the world around us.