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A striking poster design has been unveiled for a nationwide advertising initiative

23 May 2002

A striking poster design has been unveiled for a nationwide advertising initiative supported by 7,300 churches of all denominations to promote the Alpha course this September.

The colourful design will be seen on:

  • 1,500 billboard sites across the UK.

  • The backs of thousands of buses throughout the country.

  • A large number of underground stations in London.

  • Hundreds of thousands of leaflets, brochures and guides to the Alpha Course.

  • Thousands of posters outside churches and homes across the UK.

The Alpha course is one of the most widely-known Christian initiatives in the country, with 7.4 million people - nearly one in six British adults - identifying it as a Christian course, according to the polling organisation, MORI.

This is the fifth annual poster initiative in the UK and is aiming to increase the profile of Alpha among non-churchgoers still further.

Last year a 10-week national television documentary series on the Alpha course was broadcast on ITV, hosted by Sir David Frost who described the course as "a phenomenon - an extraordinary story".

More than 1.3 million people in the UK have already completed the Alpha course according to statistics compiled by the Christian Research Organisation, offering them "an opportunity to explore the meaning of life'.

Christian Research has also established that a large number of young people under the age of 34 are attending Alpha courses.

The Revd Prebendary Sandy Millar, Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, London, the Anglican church which has pioneered the Alpha course, said, "These annual initiatives are intended to make it easier for church members to offer a personal invitation to their friends and all the evidence shows that they are working."

The Revd Nicky Gumbel, who presents the Alpha material, said. "We have heard so many wonderful stories of people - many of them young - whose lives have been changed by God through the Alpha course in churches of all denominations throughout the country".

ENDS

For further information, contact:
Mark Elsdon-Dew +44 (0)845 644 7544 or +44 (0)7623 975422 (pager)

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Notes for Editors
The 'Alpha' Course

Devised in the UK, the Alpha Course is supported by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and by leaders of all the main denominations. The course is now running in over 21,900 churches in 131 countries around the world.

"Alpha' is now running in 132 of the 160 prisons in the UK, and in many of the country's universities. Alpha materials are now available in 46 different languages including Shona, French, Croatian, Chinese and Russian.

A MORI poll conducted in September 2001 revealed that nearly four million adults in the UK have either done the Alpha course themselves or know someone who has.