We're calling on young people nationwide to help weave a tapestry of their concerns about poverty and injustice.

We want to know what people between the ages of seven and 17 want the government to do about poverty.

Each contribution will be hand-written on a strip of paper that will then be woven into the petition, joining the responses from hundreds of other young people. The woven petition will equal the length of Downing Street (114m), and will be presented to Number 10 by Christian Aid's gap-year volunteers this summer.

The tapestry will represent the hopes that young people have for developing nations, but it will also be a call to action - for MPs to take notice and act on the desire of young people to see a just world.  

Christian Aid's gap-year volunteers came up with the idea after visiting Kenya in October 2007.

They visited several Christian Aid partner organisations and were impressed by the way people share their thoughts and burdens while working on revenue-generating projects like basket weaving.

Sarah Corbett, a gap-year volunteer, explains the inspiration for the petition:

'I met a woman called Tabitha who weaves baskets to sell. Through her work, Tabitha could earn money and also find companionship among other women - this inspired our idea for a woven petition. We were also keen to take our lead from Kenyan projects as we wish to show our solidarity with those who struggle for democracy there. We want politians to see that young people across the UK care about poverty and injustice, and want something done about it.'