Here are twenty inspiring ideas to get you started:

1. Swishing
Graphic designer Bethan Wilson is organising a Swishing (clothes swapping) party in April. Guests pay a small entrance fee and bring clothes they no longer want to swap for fabulous new ones – meaning you get to save money and raise money for The Message at the same time. Fabulous, darling!

2. Three Peaks Challenge
Conquering Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis and Snowden within the space of 24 hours is no mean feat (in fact it’s about 11,178 feet in total!) Josh and Ryan from Twelve24 will be part of a team of Message friends who will take the endurance challenge on during 2012. You could too!

3. Cider, cheese & comedy night
Message:Creative manager and part-time cider maker Dan Hasler is hosting a night of cider and cheese tasting with a special performance by Manchester-based comic Andy Kind. Keep an eye on our website for ticket information.

4. Family Fun Quiz
Reflex volunteer Les Hutchinson is organising a family quiz in Poynton where every question has something to do with the last 20 years. Teams can be up to six people and there’s something for everybody. The event takes place in June.

5. Photography for Sale
Multi-talented Twelve24 singer Christina Otoo-Anakwa will be selling limited edition prints of spectacular scenes captured around our beautiful city. Snap one up yourself during February.

6. Big Band Concert
Bus manager Julie Mason and trust fundraiser Helen Murphy are hosting a night of big band music in November to raise brass for The Message.

7. Running
Lots of our health-conscious staff will be attempting sponsored runs during 2012, including the Sheffield 10k (Sept), the Great South Run (Oct) and the Wilmslow half-marathon (March). Video specialist Bruce Marshall will outrun them all with five consecutive 20ks over the May bank holiday. Phew!

8. Sponsored 
Ironing
Pressed for time? In March, Reflex team leader Simon Sullivan will be auctioning 20 two-hour slots of ironing. Simon will come to your home, drink your tea and do all your ironing for you. All you need to do is make sure you’re one of the highest bidders as the totals in-crease (geddit?).

9. Bake sale
Lots of Message friends 
including administrator Ruth Barker will be baking up a storm in aid of our work during the year. Why not put on your pinny and join them, selling batches of delicious muffins, cupcakes or other sweet treats in your school, office or workplace?

10. Twelve gigs in 24 hours
Twelve24 are undertaking a gig-a-thon with a planned twelve performances in one day during May. Sponsors will be able to book the band to perform a private gig anywhere around Manchester. Let’s make them sweat!

11. Canoeing down the Thames
Missions director Ian Henderson will travel from Oxford to London down the Thames by canoe, taking in the sights as he goes. 
Which epic voyage have you always dreamed of taking?

12. Coast to Coast Bike Ride
A team of six Message staff will ride from the Irish to the North Sea in July, completing a mammoth journey 
of 147 miles. Sore bums are guaranteed, but so is loads of cash for The Message. Don’t forget your cycling clips.

13. Car washes
In Yer Face team member John Dean will put down his script in favour of a sponge in April as he aims to clean 20 cars in two weeks. We think it’s a wheely great way to raise cash fast for our crucial work in schools, communities and prisons. Why don’t you join him?

14. Zumbathon
Zumba is the latest dance and fitness craze to hit Britain – and anyone can do it. Give it a try by joining our massive two-hour Zumbathon taking place this summer in Cathedral Gardens. For more info, keep an eye on the Events section of our website.

15. Sponsored 
Evangelism
Message prayer coordinator James Aladiran is leading a team who will attempt 20 straight hours of evangelism in Manchester City Centre during the spring. If that sounds like good news to you, why not join them in March.

16. Fashion Show
Kicking off the year, Emma Owen and Emma Kizlauskas hosted a fashion show at The Message with bargain-priced fashions in Janary.

17. Plank for Glory
Genetik course leader Mat Walls is very good at lying still in odd places. It’s called Planking – and it’s much harder than it looks. Sponsor him to do 20 increasingly outrageous ‘planks’ over the summer.

18. Oil Paintings
Eden national 
director Matt Wilson 
will paint 20 Manchester landmarks in oils and aim to sell them all at an exclusive invite-only exhibition. Why not put your artistic skills to good use raising money for our vital work?

19. Dinner Jazz
Message staffers Dev Lunsford and Andre Adefope will team up with Reflex’s Tim Mycock to put on a sit-down dinner with live jazz. As well as cooking up a memorable night out, the gang hope to raise hundreds of pounds 
for The Message.

20. Your own idea
If you think it could raise money for The Message, give it a go! For more details about these ideas or for advice on setting up your own event, contact Tess Hartley on 0161 946 2304 or by email.

Keep track of all our fundraising endeavours during 2012 here on our website.

Starting September 12, young people across the nation will be taking part in Textify, the first youth campaign of the relaunched Hope Revolution movement.

Young people taking part in Textify are being challenged to pray for three friends for three weeks, texting them to start a conversation about Jesus. The organisers hope the ensuing conversations will result in many young people beginning a journey of faith.

Textify promo on YouTube

Some young people have started already and have been in touch to say how it’s going.

One texted to say: ‘Praying for my friends… they seem to be more open about Christianity everyday since I’ve started.’ Another wrote: ‘I casually mentioned Soul Survivor to my friend, she then started to ask loads of questions about God and Christianity – she is now staying over for Bible study Praise the Lord )’

Message Founder and CEO Andy Hawthorne is one of the youth agency heads warmly endorsing the Textify initiative.

He said, ‘Something really, really cool is going to happen through Textify. Bit by bit, people are going to be open to spiritual truth, then we’re going share the good news with them… The only thing we can take with us into eternity is people. And as a result of Textify this September that is exactly what is going to happen.’

Watch more Textify promo videos on Youtube

Sign up to the Hope Revolution mailing list

The Gala Dinner offers friends of the Message the chance to dine in five-star luxury at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel with live comedy from Tim Vine, and an address from Message CEO Andy Hawthorne. The night will also feature an auction of rare and outstanding prizes.

All in all, it promises to be a pun-missable night!

Individual tickets are not yet available for this event – instead tables can be booked for the price of £500 (excl. VAT) or £750 (excl. VAT) for a ‘Gold Star’ table which includes champagne, flowers and surprise gifts for your guests. To reserve your table, please contact Tess Hartley on 0161 946 2304 or email tess.hartley@message.org.uk

Here’s what’s on the July Podcast…

Andy Hawthorne OBE joins host Ian Henderson to talk about what’s been going on over the last month – including his honour from the Queen, the Urban Hero Awards and a preview of the Open Day on July 2.

He also shares about speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Houses of Parliament and getting the chance to share unashamedly about how the Bible works and Jesus works — and how, a few days later, he was seeing young men give their lives to Christ in Thorn Cross prison: ‘What a joy to be able to speak to the good and the great about the gospel but also to take that same message into prison and see it do its wonderful work.’

Eden head honcho Matt Wilson also joins us with Dan Haigh, Eden’s London Director, to bring us up to date on new teams around the nation and especially in the nation’s capital. They also talk about why people all around the nation are moving to join Eden teams.

Finally Nick Shahlavi from our Reflex team drops in to talk about his amazing personal testimony, sharing the gospel in prisons and some of the stunning miracles he’s seeing God doing through him. Plus how excited he is about the Message Enterprise Centre.

Don’t miss this brilliant hour of good news and encouraging testimonies – get the July 2011 Flow podcast for free.

Listen (and subscribe) to the Flow Podcast in iTunes

Listen to latest teaching and media from The Message on the main Message Podcast

On average, care-leavers,

• are 50 times more likely to be imprisoned
• are 60 times more likely to be homeless
• cost society 20 times more than the general population
• in 75% of cases, leave care with no qualifications at all in Greater Manchester

In Greater Manchester…

• there are almost 10,000 workless ex-offenders in the Greater Manchester area
• only 45% of ex-offenders manage to sustain employment of four weeks or more in the six months after release
• ex-offenders are two-thirds less likely to reoffend if they are engaged in employment, education or training

A former addict, drug dealer and ‘all round nasty piece of work’, somehow Nick always managed to avoid getting caught: ‘It was a miracle I never got sent down, and an even bigger miracle I didn’t end up dead. God saved my life on numerous occasions. I had threats against my life and several failed suicide attempts.’

Raised by a Christian mum, Nick felt God moving in his life. But he fell back into old habits time and time again until he finally got the breakthrough he yearned for, almost three years ago: ‘What made the difference for me was a real encounter with God, the discipleship and someone encouraging me in a way I’d never had before – and a job.’

‘I needed to stop selling drugs and get a legal job. One of my first jobs after the drugs was working in a takeaway. I would work a whole day for the money I used to earn in an hour – and I used to come home stinking of kebabs. It was hard but the Lord was leading me into bigger things and he boxed me off.’

Nick is now working full time with prisoners and young offenders as part of the Reflex team. He knows how essential it is to teach both Christian values and lifestyle to properly rehabilitate men and women. He is confident that the Message Enterprise Centre is going to provide it.

‘Look at David’s mighty men. When you first meet them, they’re broken, in debt and at their lowest point. Under David they become warriors. Jesus did the same with his disciples, building people who gathered around him. It’ll be the same thing here: this will be a nerve centre which will cultivate Kingdom mindsets to operate like Jesus himself. These guys are going to be trained up in business with mentors pouring their lives and experience into them.’

Nick is excited about continuing to mentor the young people he is working with every day in prisons and young offenders’ institutions at the moment: ‘I can’t wait to get my hands dirty with this. Some of the guys coming out soon are prime candidates for the Centre. I believe it’s going to shape them and mould them in lots of different areas, seeing them transformed into real men of God.

‘There’s going to be a new species of Christian business people bred from this place – anointed professionals with the grace and the gifting to be able to speak to people in their previous lifestyles and approach and relate to people of influence.’

Nick has himself proved this is possible: recently he was in the Houses of Parliament addressing 30 politicians and top business leaders, telling his story and sharing how he believes the Message Enterprise Centre is a key initiative for Manchester and beyond.

You can help: find out more.

For starters, it’s a miracle that the land right next door to our HQ is still available. After decades lying derelict, it remains one of the few properties for miles around available for redevelopment. God has shown us incredible favour with the local council who have agreed to favourable terms for use of the land. We’ve also have some amazingly generous gifts towards getting the centre up and running.

It will cost around £1m to get the Centre up and running in time to commence trading in 2012.

• Six new businesses, led by local entrepreneurs
• Around 75 young people in new jobs
• Eight business mentors offering support on a weekly basis
• Saving Greater Manchester upwards of £3.5m a year

Will you commit to standing with us on a regular basis? Click here to download a form.

And, if you own a business, could you contribute your skills and expertise to making it happen? Contact us here.

In its place, you’ll see the Message Enterprise Centre, an ambitious training and business hub. It aims to solve a problem at the heart of our troubled city and nation – endemic youth unemployment.

Within the space of a few months, we expect to have created six brand-new businesses and dozens of new jobs for ex-offenders and at-risk young people like those our Reflex and Eden teams work with every day.

‘This is without doubt our most ambitious and exciting initiative to date,’ says Message CEO Andy Hawthorne. ‘For over twenty years, we’ve been entrepreneurial for the Kingdom, pioneering mission in words and actions. Now it feels like we’ve come full circle  – it’s time to harness the power of business again.’

Young people need work

Decades of working in Greater Manchester’s prisons and most disadvantaged communities has shown us there are three main factors in helping ex-offenders and at-risk young people overcome the challenges in their lives.

At the heart is a transforming, living relationship with Jesus Christ. Nothing but the gospel has the power to change a life from the inside out.

Growing in that relationship requires people: close friendships, hands-on mentoring and a supportive community willing them to succeed. They need a safe place to live and a family to be a part of.

Then there’s a third factor: they need work. Every young person needs the opportunity to earn a living and gain self-respect and a sense of purpose through a regular job.

Sadly, this is where so often discipleship comes unstuck: many of the young people we work with – ex-offenders and at-risk youngsters from the toughest estates – are virtually unemployable due to a lack of qualifications, training, guidance and support. Without work, many fall back into destructive lifestyles, including crime.

The costs of workless and bored young people are staggering – to the individual and to society as a whole. Estimates suggest every unemployed ex-offender or care-leaver costs the taxpayer at least £50,000 a year, taking into account unemployment benefits, health care, drug or alcohol treatment, policing, prison and probation services. This is a massive waste of resources and potential.

Worklessness – the facts

The spirit of enterprise

Reusing and transforming a dilapidated site next door to our HQ in Sharston, the Message Enterprise Centre will offer training and create jobs for dozens of young men and women each year through new businesses set up in partnership with local entrepreneurs.

As these young people find new skills, structure and purpose, lives will be rebuilt, jobs will be created, and new businesses will be birthed.

In partnership with organisations like the Jericho Foundation, Project Caleb and Betel of Britain, we will create new companies designed to train and create jobs in areas such as landscaping and gardening, car maintenance, cleaning, catering, and health and beauty.

Longer term, we aim to connect the Centre’s work with the environmental agenda, helping upgrade our city’s poor housing stock by installing insulation, solar panels and other energy-saving measures.

Every young person engaged in the programme will work with an established mentor, ensuring commitment and that they catch the spirit of enterprise. Our dream is not just to create jobs but to raise entrepreneurs, with the Message Enterprise Centre an incubator for new kingdom businesses across the city.

How the Enterprise Centre will help young men like Nick Shahlavi

Turning lives around for good

Mentoring is at the heart of the Centre’s plans, explains Andy Hawthorne: ‘Everybody needs a mentor, someone to come alongside them. We’ve learned that over years on Eden and Reflex. Just as apathy, boredom and addiction are infectious, so are creativity, energy and entrepreneurialism. Multiplication is at the heart of the way we work now – that’s how we get the job done.

‘We’re excited about the potential. Imagine loan sharks who are right now driving round Manchester in a BMW with a baseball bat ripping off the poor, instead blessing the poor by building kingdom businesses.

‘Or think about highly entrepreneurial drug dealers, already used to dealing with millions of pounds of goods, going from being the problem to the answer.

‘What a prize that would be, not just for the Message, but for the whole city and for the Kingdom! Jeremiah 29:7 says, ‘Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’

You can help: find out more.

Lewis Murch, pictured, had already picked up the Inspiration Award but was called back to the stage at the fourth annual Urban Hero Awards to be told his was the story that most impressed the judges. Watch his nomination video.

He was presented with his trophy and a prize of a high-end laptop and pro music software by Chris Bowles from Awards Sponsor Stagecoach Group.

The Urban Hero Awards recognise young people who have been helped by The Message Trust over the last year through our pioneering work in schools, communities and prisons. It also showcases some of the talented performers in music, drama and dance who work with The Message.

The Awards were hosted by Message Trust founder and CEO Andy Hawthorne OBE, himself recently recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours List.

Over 700 people gathered to see the young people presented with their awards, among them Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Peter Fahy; High Sheriff of Greater Manchester Christine Lee Jones; Lord and Lady Edmiston; MPs Paul Goggins and Fiona Bruce; and Councillors Afzal Khan and Sameem Ali.

Exceptional winners

The six award winners took to the stage to rapturous applause.

Drama student Georgia Houghton won the Courage Award for overcoming an abusive relationship that almost drove her to suicide. Watch her nomination video.

The Volunteer Award was presented to Anth Brown for his work with young men coaching football on the Easterside estate in Middlesbrough. Watch his nomination video.

Stacey Murray received the Achiever Award for her strength of character displayed as she rebuilt her life after five consecutive prison sentences on drugs charges. Watch her nomination video.

The Champion Award went to Nina Whittaker from Harpurhey whose work with young girls in her community has helped many find a sense of self-worth and identity. Watch her nomination video.

And Laura Neilson was honoured with a special award for Enterprise for her amazing entrepreneurial work setting up new health practices in four of Greater Manchester’s underprivileged communities. Watch her nomination video.

Wonderful generosity

Thanks to the generosity of our guests on the night The Message raised a wonderful £119,286 towards our pioneering work in schools, communities and prisons.

Some of this was earmarked for the new Message Enterprise Centre which is now over halfway towards its fundraising goal of £1m with almost £700,000 so far pledged.

Urban Heroes Supplement

This Friday, June 24, the Manchester Evening News will be running a special eight-page supplement featuring all our winners’ stories and coverage from the night in all its editions.

Make sure you get your copy!

Laura’s experience as part of an Eden team opened her eyes to a massive problem in Fitton Hill: her community wasn’t getting the kind of health care it desperately needed.

Part way through a medical degree, Laura put her studies to one side to do something about it. With a small team, Laura put together a Community Interest Company and wrote a 700 page bid for the tender – and they won it. Not yet 30, Laura now oversees four local practices.

With thanks to Award Sponsor Subaru UK.