A new study reveals nearly 10 per cent of the six million UK adults that attend church each month sponsors a child in the developing world.

TNS, a global market research company, conducted the research for Evangelical Alliance member Compassion UK to help them gauge the health of the UK church.

The study questioned 9, 600 adults, finding that 11.4 per cent of adults aged 16 and over attend church at least once a month and that 6.02 million UK adults attend on a regular basis.

The study also found that nine per cent of churchgoers sponsor a child.

Bekah Legg, Compassion UK media manager, commented: "These figures are incredibly encouraging. We believe that the Church is the hope of the world. Six million adults, plus their children, together as Church, have the power to change not just their community, but nations."

The figures showed that monthly church attendance was the highest in Northern Ireland at 20.4 per cent and was the lowest in Wales at 10.9 per cent.

Scotland fared better than England at 13.3 per cent, with overall attendance in England at 10.9 per cent, though this was notably higher in Greater London where it reached 16.3 per cent.

The denominations with the biggest monthly church attendance were the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church with 30 per cent each of the sample stating they attended one of their churches.

The research, which also looked at the charitable activities of regular churchgoers, found that 69 per cent of churchgoers had given at least £10 to a charity in the last 12 months and that one out of nine churchgoers sponsor a child.

Independent researchhas also found that sponsored children helped by Compassion have stayed longer in education and been more likely to secure a white collared job. Sponsored children have also gone on to become leaders in their community, which in turn has led to more opportunities for more children to thrive.

Mrs Legg said: "We see this happening every day. As individuals and churches work together to support the church in the developing world, we see genuine transformation.

"So far, just nine per cent of Christians sponsor a child. Our vision is to help the UK church, that 91 per cent who don't sponsor yet, connect with a child on the other side of the world and release them from poverty."

To learn more about sponsoring a child visit: http://www.compassionuk.org/