CHURCH members in Stourport will be hitting the streets on Ash Wednesday to offer to say a prayer for the people they meet.

Prayers will be collected by members of the clergy including the Bishop of Worcester Dr John Inge and lay people on Stourport High Street on Wednesday from 11am to midday.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to give a prayer request, which will be written on prayer cards to be prayed later that day at Ash Wednesday services.

Bishop John said: “Each Ash Wednesday for the last five years we have been out on the streets of the diocese offering to pray for individuals and we’ve always found that people have really appreciated somebody taking the time and interest to pray for them and any problems or concerns that they’re currently experiencing.

"Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, which is an important time in the Christian calendar and it’s a good time to focus on the difference that prayer can make.”

Pray One for Me is a national initiative which originated in the Diocese of Worcester.

On Ash Wednesday in 2009, Bishop John collected prayers outside the Job Centre in Redditch, hoping to help those who had been most badly affected by the economic downturn. It became a national initiative in 2010.

People can also post their prayer requests on prayoneforme.org