The new Bishop of Salisbury gave away £10,000 during his welcome service. Rt Revd Stephen Lake who was recently appointed gave each person in attendance £10 last Sunday.

Using the parable of the ten talents in the Bible he encouraged those at his inauguration service to use their resources to be a blessing to people and for the good of the kingdom of God.

He said: "If it can't be done in the Salisbury Diocese, it can't be done... well it can be done, and it starts now." 

Then each member of the audience were handed out envelopes with £10 inside. Two anonymous donors gave a total of £10,000 to make the idea possible.

"This is your talent,” Bishop Stephen said, "What will you do with it? Will you bury it, save it, or make it grow so that good can come from this?" 

He suggested ideas of how to use the money which included buying a meal for someone struggling, donating to the local food bank, buying tiles for a church roof or taking someone lonely for a drink.

"We have the power to change the world pound by pound, Salisbury's got talent, “he added.  It's all about us now, only we can make the church grow."  

The Diocese of Salisbury said some people have already invested their money, giving to charities that are matching funds, and therefore multiplying their talents.

Speaking to BBC South Today, Kathryn Furnell, who was at the service, said: "It was astonishing. No one expects to leave church richer than we went in. Then we realised that we needed to think back to the sermon, and that the onus is on each of us to do something good with our £10." 

Also speaking to BBC South, Bishop Stephen said: "I know of someone who is giving the money to someone who they know is having to make the choice between heating and eating. It shows us that we have the capacity to make a difference."