Over 1,000 young people took part in almost 50 community improvement projects in 25 locations across Greater Manchester. The two-day initiative helped breathe new life into neglected areas of the city and fascinated residents and onlookers around the city.

In Cheetham Hill, a new community garden stands in the grounds of Trinity United Church, welcoming visitors to the Welcome Centre, a community-drop in for refugees and asylum seekers, the homeless and those struggling with mental health issues.

In Ordsall, projects include painting railings around the Community Café and on the old St Clements and Radclyffe school sites; clearing the overgrown path alongside the River Irwell opposite the Victoria and Albert hotel; gardening for needy residents across the neighbourhood, clearing rubbish and general litter picking.

In Brinnington, a local children’s centre was re-landscaped with paths cleared and gardens planted, just one of several target areas to get the ‘Hope’ treatment, including areas around Reddish Vale Country Park, the Lapwing Centre, Moat Walk Play Area, and St Lukes Church and Community Centre.

Other local projects took place in Reddish (clearing gardens and ginnels), Kersal (clearing woodland), Eccles (litter picking and garden tidying), Flixton (graffiti removal and tidying scout hut), Langworthy (painting railings and clearing waste ground), Bury (litter picking, clearing waste ground, street clean-ups), Old Trafford (clearing yards and fly-tipping), Altrincham (clearing up transport interchange), Farnworth (litter picking), Halliwell (park tidying, gardening and repairs), Cheadle (park and sports activities), Didsbury (litter picking and family fun day), Failsworth (family open air events), Fitton Hill (cleaning local skate park and basketball court), Werneth (children’s holiday club), Greenacres (graffiti cleaning, back alleys and park tidying), Northern Moor (clearing local gardens), Openshaw (graffiti cleaning, cutting back bushes), Collyhurst (litter picking, tiding garden areas) and Crumpsall (painting railings).

All the projects were coordinated by The Message in partnership with local authorities, Greater Manchester Police and local churches.

(Thanks to Amanda Morgan for these pictures.)

A team of young volunteers from Bristol is helping improve a local children’s centre this week as part of the Audacious youth festival.

Brinnington Children’s Centre serves the area’s under-fives and their families with a busy programme of activities including baby groups, toddler groups and nursery education. The Centre is also a popular place for health visitors and other community workers. But since the Centre opened in late 2006, its outdoor area had become overgrown and unusable by the young children.

So a dozen young people bussed in from the Audacious festival in central Manchester set about the challenge of digging, clearing paths and planting herbs with gusto.

They were joined by local members of the community in Brinnington including two local dads who bring their children to the centre regularly.

Kim Boughey, Manager of the Children’s Centre said, ‘There’s a real community feel to Brinnington and the Centre is a real hub – we’ve got lots going on here.’

‘Seeing the garden come together is fantastic. It’s creating a lovely environment for our children and families and it’s good to see the team working alongside local people,’ she added.

The project is one of several similar projects in Brinnington this week, part of a wider community action initiative run by the Audacious youth festival.

Driven by city youth charity The Message Trust, Stockport Police, and the council’s Neighbourhood Renewal department together drew up a list of target areas, including areas around Reddish Vale Country Park, the Lapwing Centre, Moat Walk Play Area, St Lukes Community Centre and Church, Brinnington Children’s Centre and Brinnington Community Centre.

Projects have included clearing litter from pathways, cleaning graffiti, cutting down overgrown shrubbery, weeding, painting and tidying up garden areas.

Two hundred young people were involved in and around Brinnington with another 800 serving elsewhere across Greater Manchester.

Joshua Whiddon from Edge Church Bristol led a team of 11 young people working at the Centre during the week. He commented: ‘We’re here at Audacious and hearing about the good things Jesus has done for us. Rather than keep it to ourselves, we want to go out into the community and make a difference, to give the message of Jesus hands and feet.’

‘It’s good for our young people to think outside of their own lives and act selflessly.’

More pictures from the Brinnington projects are available on Flickr.

Transporting 1,000 young people to community action projects around Greater Manchester requires a feat of logistics.

Twenty-four double-decker buses and their drivers have been generously supplied free of charge by Stagecoach to take youngsters out across the city at 1pm and bring them back again once their projects are completed.

This Thursday and Friday (August 6 and 7), the young people are taking part in 50 community improvement projects in 25 locations across Greater Manchester. Projects such as clearing rubbish, painting railings, removing graffiti and planting gardens will breathe new life into neglected areas of the city.

The initiative is part of the Audacious 09 summer youth festival, a Christian event running all week (August 3-8) in the city and attracting young people from Manchester and further afield.

The project is one of 50 taking place this week as part of the Audacious 09 Christian youth festival.

The site chosen was the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ area of Openshaw, the site of several serious assaults in recent years.

Pete Askew, Community Projects Manager for Eden Openshaw, explains:

‘When the Yellow Brick Road site was suggested by Environmental Services at the Council, I jumped at the idea. It seems perfect to pick this area which has had a bad reputation for violence in the past, and to do something positive there alongside local teenagers and this clean-up team. We want to increase visibility for people walking down the Yellow Brick Road, and to work to improve the reputation of this patch.

‘We believe that God can bring hope to areas and people who have no hope, and we want to do something practical towards this in our community.’

As the team from Audacious set about clearing the paths around the area, they were joined by young people from the local area who Eden Openshaw have been working with for years, opening up opportunities to share their faith in Jesus.

‘That’s been a personal highlight of mine,‘ Pete added.

Jonny Grafton, youth pastor from Outreach Christian Centre in Barnsley brought 16 young people with him to serve in Openshaw. He remarked:

‘We try to teach the young people that you’re always growing into servanthood, never out of it. So this has been fantastic. It’s been great building relationships with the young people the Eden project has been working with too.’

More pictures from the Openshaw project are available on Flickr.

The project is one of 50 taking place this week as part of the Audacious 09 Christian youth festival.

Local MP Hazel Blears will be helping out with the young people and local residents in Ordsall:

’Young people often get given a bad press but this is a great example of them putting something back into the community. ‘Ordsall is a great place to live and will be even greener and brighter as a result of all their hard work,’ she said.

The Message Trust is working in partnership with Salford Council, Salix Homes and LPC Living and Salford Division of Greater Manchester Police together with Ordsall churches – St Clements and the Oasis Church.

Alan Saunders from The Message commented: ‘We’re hugely grateful to the support and partnership of these organisations in providing tools, materials, rubbish clearance, staff and finances to help make this initiative such a great success for the local community.’

Projects include painting railings around the Community Café; clearing the overgrown path alongside the River Irwell opposite the Victoria and Albert hotel; gardening for needy residents across the neighbourhood, including a major project on Coronation Street; clearing rubbish and painting railings on the old St Clements and Radclyffe school sites; and general litter picking.

People passing will be invited to the free events in Manchester city centre on Saturday 8 August.

More pictures from the Ordsall project are available on Flickr.

A team of hard-working young people are helping a Cheetham Hill community centre improve its surroundings this week as part of the Audacious youth festival.

The Welcome Centre run at Trinity United Church is a local drop-in centre set up five years ago to respond to the needs of people living locally, especially refugees and asylum seekers, the homeless and those struggling with mental health issues.

Run by the church in partnership with local agencies, the Centre provides access to services, a good meal, friendship and support at the church’s premises on the intersection of Greenhill Road and Cheetham Hill Road.

Teamirat Seyoum, himself once an asylum seeker from Eritrea, is the Centre Coordinator: ‘People come to the Centre for a variety of reasons: some seeking advice and support, some looking for help filling in a form, referrals and advice work on benefits.

‘We help anyone. Cheetham Hill is a very diverse and multicultural community with 22 communities speaking 44 languages. Our volunteers are also from diverse backgrounds – Christians, Muslims, Hindus and many of the people who help deliver our services are themselves refugees or are affected by mental health issues. Volunteering can be the first step on the road to employment.’

Seventeen young people are working at Trinity United Church and the partner church St Johns on Thursday and Friday afternoons this week (August 6 and 7). The youngsters are creating a community garden: clearing land which use to be occupied by a demolished church hall, putting down a membrane and covering the area with bark chippings, creating a restful seating area.

The area will also host a vegetable patch which will eventually provide home-grown for use in the Centre.

‘It will be used as a quiet and reflective place for the users of the centre on Thursdays and Fridays’, says Trinity United Church leader Daniel Burton. ‘It’s the first thing you see when you go through the gate and for years it’s been an eyesore. Suddenly, having a willing team of youngsters has given us the people power to tackle it.’

‘It’s a great project for them to be involved with. The church is at the physical crossroads here and we are also at the crossroads of many people’s lives.’

The team sent to help the project in Cheetham Hill is from Louth Christian Fellowship in Louth, Lincolnshire. James Cartwright, one of the leaders of the group commented:

‘It’s really good to see the young people getting involved in the community and chatting to people as they come past and ask what’s going on. It’s also good for the young people to know that they’re appreciated and get the encouragement. It’s uplifting to be a part of it.’

The project is one of 50 local projects taking place across Manchester this Thursday and Friday, part of an initiative run by The Message Trust and the Audacious Festival. More than 1,000 young people are involved in total.

The Audacious youth festival will culminate in a massive free outdoor event in central Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens and Spinningfields on Saturday 8 August. The event will feature outdoor sports, live music, street theatre and, for the first time ever in the centre of Manchester, a bungee crane. The day starts at 1pm and everyone is welcome.

The initiative is part of the Audacious 09 summer youth festival, a Christian event running all week (August 3-8) in the city and attracting young people from Manchester and further afield.

Local projects will take place in Reddish (clearing gardens and ginnels), Kersal (clearing woodland), Eccles (litter picking and garden tidying), Flixton (graffiti removal and tidying scout hut), Langworthy (painting railings and clearing waste ground), Bury (litter picking, clearing waste ground, street clean-ups), Old Trafford (clearing yards and fly-tipping), Altrincham (clearing up transport interchange), Farnworth (litter picking), Halliwell (park tidying, gardening and repairs), Cheadle (park and sports activities), Didsbury (litter picking and family fun day), Failsworth (family open air events), Fitton Hill (cleaning local skate park and basketball court), Werneth (children’s holiday club), Greenacres (graffiti cleaning, back alleys and park tidying), Northern Moor (clearing local gardens), Openshaw (graffiti cleaning, cutting back bushes), Cheetham Hill (creation of a community garden), Collyhurst (litter picking, tiding garden areas) and Crumpsall (painting railings), Ordsall (various) and Brinnington (various).

‘Young people on the streets are usually seen as a bad thing in Greater Manchester,’ comments event coordinator Alan Saunders. ‘But this week we want to turn that idea on its head. Young people are making a positive contribution to the city they live in.’

He continues: ‘The idea behind it is simply to show God’s love in action. As we get our hands dirty serving local people in all these different ways, people start asking, “Why are you doing it?” We want to be able to tell them that God cares for their communities and so do we.’

Transporting the 1,000 young people around the city to participate in the afternoon projects is a logistical feat requiring a total of 24 double decker buses. These have been provided to the event completely free of charge by Stagecoach.

The Audacious Festival will culminate in a massive free outdoor event in central Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens and Spinningfields on Saturday 8 August. The event will feature outdoor sports, live music, street theatre and, for the first time ever in the centre of Manchester, a bungee crane. The day starts at 1pm and everyone is welcome.

Day and evening passes available – click here.

The week-long Christian festival takes place at Manchester Central (formerly G-MEX) and is a mix of conference-style worship and teaching, community action projects across the city and a day-long city centre ‘expo’ event taking place in Spinningfields and Cathedral Gardens.

On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 August, the young people will suit up and ship out to 25 locally-based community projects across the city in an initiative the festival organisers are calling ’10,000 Hours of Hope’. Each project is designed to clean up and improve local areas through clearing rubbish, painting railings, cleaning graffiti and planting gardens.

The Audacious festival will culminate in a massive free public event in Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens and Spinningfields on Saturday 8 August. The event will feature outdoor sports, live music, street theatre and, for the first time ever in the centre of Manchester, a bungee crane. The day starts at 1pm and everyone is welcome.

Rates for Manchester Churches are now as follows:

• Full conference pass: £89 (instead of £109)
• Three day pass (6-8 August only): £50
• Day pass: £20
• Evening only: £7

To book, please phone 0161 830 7000, quoting ‘Manchester Church’

This summer, The Message is excited to be partnering with Audacious to bring the massive !Audacious conference to Manchester from 3-8 August.

Manchester Central will play host to thousands of young people from across the country, here to soak up six days of passionate praise and worship, stirring teaching from top Bible communicators and the life-transforming presence of God.

But !Audacious ’09 is more than just a conference for young people. It’s a chance for the people of Manchester to see the life-changing power of God in action.

That’s because this year, alongside the conference programme, young delegates will have the chance to show God’s love in action through dozens of targeted social action projects in local communities around Greater Manchester.

On the two afternoons of the 6th and 7th August, delegates will suit up and ship out to serve on community projects across the city. Teams will be transported to local neighbourhoods, equipped and let loose on projects such as cleaning up the local shopping parade, litter picking, scrubbing off graffiti or painting railings.

To register your young people on the conference, visit www.liveaudacious.com or call 0161 830 7000.

To have an ‘A-Team to come to serve your local community (for one or both of the afternoons), download an application form at www.bigdeal.org.uk or call 0161 946 2332.

And don’t miss the massive day of mission ‘Audacious Unleashed’ on Saturday 8 August culminating with the live Unleashed event at Manchester Central, starting at 7.30pm and featuring Message bands LZ7, Blush and Twelve24 , as well as In Yer Face.