Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice has announced details of a major conference to be held in central London on Thursday 19 July 2007.

The conference will bring together representatives from churches, other faith groups, homelessness charities, housing providers and Government representatives to consider 'Action on homelessness - a hand out or a hand up?' and how long-term homelessness can be prevented.

Conference organiser Alastair Murray of Housing Justice, a leading Christian charity in the prevention of homelessness and bad housing, commented: "Voluntary church and faith groups have always been very good at giving essential help like food, clothes and even shelter to people who are homeless or on the margins but not always so good at encouraging people to move on towards independence.

"This event will give space to the debate about how we should be helping people who are homeless and on the margins. There are growing tensions between the approaches to homelessness of some Christians and people of other faiths and those of the government and larger charities funded by government to provide homelessness services."

The conference will consider the tensions between meeting immediate needs and moving people towards independence, especially those with multiple and complex needs.

Mr Murray continued: "We hope that this event will allow everyone to share their thoughts on the issues so that we can work towards an effective solution. We all want the same outcome - to prevent homelessness."

Staff from charity Groundswell UK will facilitate the event and use Open Space Technology, an innovative system which allows conference participants to set the agenda, form discussion groups and use their own contributions and questions to drive the event.

"At many conferences participants often gain the most not from the inspiring speeches but from the conversations that take place during the breaks. Open Space Technology brings this kind of interaction to the fore - participants' own questions, interests and concerns will drive the event. As a result we hope all of the issues will be covered with each participant able to tailor the conference to their own specific interests."

Housing Justice was formed in April 2003 by the merger of two long-standing housing charities, the Catholic Housing Aid Society, or CHAS, and the Churches National Housing Coalition.