Letter: Millennium help for the homeless

Sir: Perhaps the Prince of Wales, Mr Costa and Holy Trinity Brompton have not noticed that every church in the land is practically empty except at Christmas and Easter. So why build yet another one - capable of seating 10,000, what's more - in Battersea? (Prince of Wales places faith in church centre", 30 December)

A far more Christian use of lottery money and matching private funds would be to use the whole site for the satellite projects with, as its focus, a wonderful modern hostel and de-tox centre to house and feed the homeless and those who still sleep on our streets. Not as glamorous, but of far more value and something that really does face up to the problems we still have in our society at the end of this millennium.

The Church for its part might consider how many of its redundant buildings throughout the land could also be used in this way and make lottery bids for their conversion - providing of course, that it would be prepared to accept money generated from gambling.

Sir TERENCE CONRAN

London SE1