The note was left in a post box at the L6 Community Centre in Everton.

Local Labour councillor Gerard Woodhouse posted a picture on Twitter to raise awareness of the need in his area.

In the letter, the child writes: “Dear Father Christmas. Can you help?

“Can we have a home for Christmas? Mam wants us to be all together. Can you give us some food and can I have just a nice doll for Christmas? Thank you.”

The letter appeared when the team at the community centre began decorating for Christmas.

They left the post box in the cafe for visiting children to post their Christmas wishes.

Speaking on Premier’s News Hour, Dr Naomi Maynard from Feeding Liverpool, a Christian charity tackling hunger, spoke of her unease at seeing the note.

“It’s a heart breaking letter to read,” she said. “When I first read it I almost wasn’t surprised – this is a day to day reality for those with struggles who are regularly asking questions ‘where is food coming from? Am I going to have breakfast this morning?'”

She did however hope some good would come from the letter.

“The response from the community has been fabulous, an outpouring of love. There’s actually lots of great work already happening in Everton so hopefully, this letter might be another thing that brings more attention and more support.”

Encouraging Christians to be motivated to help those in their communities, Dr Maynard said: “You…

The machines use Artificial Intelligence to spot whether the user is exhibiting addictive behaviour and will be introduced in betting shops such as William Hill, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes.

The Anonymous Player Awareness System (APAS) looks out for whether a player is betting erratically in order to keep playing and monitors how long they’ve been gambling for.

If the gamer is playing in a way that could danger them, they are locked out of it for at least 30 seconds and a manager is alerted.

Warnings are then displayed on the screen about safe gambling.

A “cooling off” period of 20 seconds will also stop a player gambling if they have been on the machine for 20 minutes.

Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, who has campaigned about gambling in the House of Lords, said: “I am glad that the industry has acknowledged the problems its products are still creating on our high streets.

He said the idea was good and a step forward but: “As anyone who has ever watched people use these types of machines know, 20 seconds appears to be too small a time-limit. Could 20 seconds be so short that it is effectively meaningless?

“If this initiative is really going to help those experiencing gambling-related harm, it will need to have robust, transparent and independent academic review using anonymised data to test its effectiveness.”

Bishop Alan added: “As the world and the…

West’s original Jesus Is King album, which launched 25th October, made history in the Christian music industry after becoming the first album ever to take the top 10 spots on both Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts.

On Monday the star told fans a follow-up project was in production.

“Ye and Dre Jesus is King Part II coming soon” he posted on Twitter, sharing a photo with the famed producer and rapper in the studio.

Ye and Dre Jesus is King Part II coming soon. pic.twitter.com/wTKFgXQQXQ

— ye (@kanyewest) November 18, 2019

The album will mark the first official collaboration of two of the most prominent artists in the hip hop industry.

West, who announced he is now “born again” earlier this year also plans to release a Christmas album titled Jesus is Born.

Last weekend, West performed a Sunday service session at Houston’s Lakewood Church, featuring a sermon from the megachurch pastor Joel Osteen.

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Speaking at the CBI conference on Monday, where the political party leaders also pitched their ideas to the business community, the Archbishop of Canterbury took part in a discussion about social inequality.

The discussion was chaired by Faisal Islam, BBC’s economics editor and also included Denise Wilson, Ruth Harrison and Brian Gilvary – who all work in business and equality.

During the session, Archbishop Justin said: “Our founder Jesus Christ was of course not white, middle class and British…by any standard of imagination.

“Are you sure?” asked Faisal Islam.

“I’m absolutely certain – he certainly wouldn’t have got a visa, unless we’re particularly short of carpenters”.

Making sure every person is able to live with dignity is central to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Looking forward to being at #CBI2019 this afternoon, where I’ll be joining a panel discussion on ways to tackle social inequality.

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) November 18, 2019

They also discussed gender parity on company boards, whether companies should make relationships which have climate change implications and social injustice.

⁦@JustinWelby⁩ profit is necessary but not sufficient. We need a fair and just economy. An inclusive one. #socialinequality debate ⁦@CBItweets⁩ #CBI2019 pic.twitter.com/HybgeVJ2nL

— Rain Newton-Smith (@RainNewtonSmith) November 18, 2019

Leo Varadkar offered his support to Fr Oliver O’Reilly from Ballyconnell parish.

Fr O’Reilly previously described a “long reign of terror” hanging over the Cavan-Fermanagh area and urged those involved to end the violence.

The Taoiseach said: “In his homily following the vicious assault on Kevin Lunney, Fr O’Reilly spoke from the heart and the head, and offered leadership to a distressed community.

“He offered moral guidance to his community, he condemned the savagery of the kidnapping and the ongoing campaign of intimidation, and called on everyone to co-operate with the authorities.

“I believe that Fr O’Reilly showed considerable courage in giving this homily and I commend him for doing so.”

It was reported over the weekend that one of Fr O’Reilly’s parishioners, the businessman Sean Quinn, has written to the Vatican to complain.

The Quinn family have consistently condemned and distanced themselves from those attacking the new owners.

Mr Lunney, 50, a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), was snatched near his Co Fermanagh home and brutally assaulted in September.

The father of six spoke out about the attack in a BBC Spotlight interview, describing how he had been slashed with a knife, doused with bleach and branded by his captors before being dumped on a remote road in Co Cavan.

Criminals targeting QIH executives are believed to have been behind the…