This year's Keswick Convention heard an appeal to Christians to consider adopting a child in need of a loving home. 

Evangelical Alliance General Director Steve Clifford spoke of the shortage of foster homes and families willing to adopt.

There are currently 4,600 children in the UK waiting for adoption and a need for an additional 9,000 families, according to the Evangelical Alliance.

Clifford invited more people to support the Evangelical Alliance's 'Home for Good' campaign encouraging churches to get behind adoption and fostering in their areas.

The campaign highlights the fact that if only one family per church got involved with fostering or adoption, with the support of their church, the entire need in the UK could be met.

"One child waiting for a home in the UK is one child too many," said Clifford.

"Every day this year, fifty kids are going to be taken into the care system. Every one of those kids involves a real life story, often tragic.

"Every child is someone who God deeply loves and wants their lives to flourish. That's part of our calling as a Christian community."

The Evangelical Alliance's Krish Kandiah shared his experience of adoption and fostering children for the last seven years.

"It has been the most rewarding and challenging thing our family has done," he said. "We have three birth children, an adopted daughter and a constant stream of lovely foster children."

This year's Keswick Convention welcomed up to 15,000 people over the three weeks, with a record attendance in week two of around 3,700 people attending the Bible readings with Oxford University mathematician Professor John Lennox.