Faithworks founder Steve Chalke is calling upon the next Prime Minister to acknowledge the indispensible contribution to the economy made by the Christian voluntary sector.

Speaking ahead of the third and final party political leadership debate on the economy next week, Chalke said that such recognition from the incoming Prime Minister would be a vote of confidence that would only drive Christians to serve their local communities even more.

“The Christian contribution to society is hugely significant,” he said. “Local churches contribute millions to regional economies across the country and if Westminster more openly acknowledged this, the encouragement it would bring to the unsung army of volunteers and paid staff in churches and other Christian groups would release a tsunami of care which would help compensate for the inevitable forthcoming public spending cuts.”

According to the group, an estimated 370,000 Christian volunteers contribute services to the value of around £486 million each year in England alone, donating around 65 million hours of their time.

“The church, with its history of public service, valuable local knowledge and motivated voluntary workforce in every village, town and city is best placed to fill the ever growing gaps in service provision,” said Chalke.

“Put bluntly, you get far more bang for your buck from the Church. Our political leaders seem fixated on the issue of which way the church will vote – the far more import issue for the nation is about what they will do to engage with churches across the country to deliver an even higher level of public service.

“For the church, faith and democracy are primarily about volunteering rather than voting.”

Churches typically run a variety of services for their local communities, including parent-toddler groups, soup kitchens and elderly support.

In recent interviews with Chalke, party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg came out in support of faith groups playing a greater role in the delivery of public services.

Faithworks is asking Christians to sign its Faithworks Declaration, which asks the next Government to support the work of faith groups, rather than treating them with suspicion. The declaration will be delivered by Chalke to the incoming Prime Minister.