Shine Your Light youth action campaign launches

Manchester youth charity The Message Trust has launched a bold national campaign to ‘make goodness fashionable’ in 2010.

Shine Your Light is challenging young people across the UK to do fifteen specific acts of kindness for their friends, family and local community including spending time with the elderly, buying lunch for a homeless person and dropping in a thank you card to the local police station.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRenM5O7LDM[/youtube]

It’s all designed to bring a little more light to our dark world, says Message CEO Andy Hawthorne: ‘Two thousand years ago, Jesus said’ “You are the light of the world… let your light shine. Shine Your Light is all about that – plugging in the power, ripping off the lampshades and shining brightly. We’re serious about wanting to see massive changes in our schools and communities.’

The campaign is being run online, hooking into the power of social networking and digital media. Over the next few days, new challenges will appear on the Shine Your Light homepage. As youngsters complete each task, they are encouraged to post comments and footage.

The Message hopes that over the coming weeks and months, Shine Your Light will become a massive movement which in the words of William Wilberforce will help to ‘make goodness fashionable’ in the UK.

The Shine Your Light campaign is the latest in a long line of community action projects backed by The Message over the last 10 years. Last year’s Audacious festival saw over 1,000 young people taking part in 50 area improvement projects in 25 locations across Greater Manchester.