The first UK Christian denomination to employ young people in a new youth strategy has pushed the boundaries of youth participation and aims to make a wider impact on society as well as on its own culture.

Growing up does not always come with age, says Giles Fraser. Many people are little more than moral babies, well into their 30s and 40s. Real growing up is a moral business, concerned with over­coming infantile self-obsession.

The whole point of the Children Society’s latest project was to hear what children were saying and to give them a voice, says Jonathan Bartley. But the world of adult decision-making does not really want to know.

The debate about Britain's children and the impact of individualism and consumerism is continuing, following the publication in book form of the report A Good Childhood, commissioned by The Children’s Society.

Anxious politicians and commentators fulminating about Britain's failure to defy the recent blizzards afflicting the country were yesterday invited to lighten up and learn from their children's sense of fun.

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams says that the Children's Society's headline-making new report "is telling us that adults have to change if children are to be better cared for."

Many children in Britain are growing up in a much more secure and affluent environment, but this is being undone by a culture of selfishness, says a major report from the Church of England Children's Society.

Campaigners for the reform of church schools have warned that the anticipated boost that the Church of England will get to church attendance this Christmas will come at a cost to children.

An appeal to supermarket bosses backed by churches and parents appears to could lead to a significant shift in the way Halloween is marketed in the UK - with an emphasis on giving more than tricking for treats.

A church charity is urging the Government to grant all disabled children placed away from home unconditional access to an independent advocate.