The Message Trust

The history of The Message is told in Andy Hawthorne's books, The Message 20 - Celebrating Two Decades of Changed Lives [4] and Diary of a Dangerous Vision [5]

The Message Trust has its roots in a week-long youth event that took place at the Manchester Apollo in 1988, Message '88. Founder and current CEO Andy Hawthorne together with his businessman brother Simon felt stirred to present the Christian gospel message relevantly to the young people of Manchester and organised a week of mission gigs at the Apollo. Message ‘88 attracted over 20,000 young people to hear live performances by bands and artists and a presentation of the gospel message.[6]

A repeat run in 1989 attracted similar numbers and led to the brothers being approached by a member of one of the bands involved about forming a full-time youth mission to schools. ‘Message to Schools’ was the result, formed with the express purpose of taking the gospel to young people in schools through hip hop and dance music.

As the team continued to develop a sharper focus on Manchester, particularly the toughest areas and estates, the charity expanded their initiatives from just schools work, changing its name to what we know it as today, The Message Trust.

In more recent years, The Message has expanded into other parts of the UK, and across the world, with Advance Groups meeting in 91 nations across the globe.

The Message has a history of engaging young people with a message of hope through creative mission, including the development of popular music. The World Wide Message Tribe, later shortened to simply The Tribe, was initially formed to run the schools weeks. Demand for the band to play in schools and further afield quickly increased and the Tribe went on to record successful albums which brought international recognition and critical acclaim. The Tribe disbanded in 2004, but The Message's schools work has multiplied with new creative teams to reach young people in high schools in Greater Manchester and beyond.

These have included bands LZ7, Twelve24, Vital Signs, MaLoKai, BrightLine, KineticIV, SoulBox, Amongst Wolves and OTC; theatre company In Yer Face; dance crew Square1; sex and relationships team Respect ME and disability engagement team Enable.

As the team developed a sharper focus on Manchester, and particularly the toughest areas and estates of the city, Andy Hawthorne and team began to have a vision to see Christians moving into these areas to live and work, supporting local churches particularly to reach young people. This initiative was named Eden, and the first Eden partnership was launched in 1997 in Benchill, Wythenshawe, at that time the most deprived neighbourhood in the UK.[7] Others followed and over the last 30 years, they have planted more than 70 Eden teams, with 700 volunteers, in key areas of urban challenge in Greater Manchester and across the UK. The history and philosophy behind Eden is explained in Matt Wilson's books Eden: Called to the Streets and Concrete Faith.[8] In 2009, the Eden Network [9] was formed with the aim of spreading the Eden vision to other urban areas across the UK, and 2014 saw the first Eden team outside the UK in Cape Town, South Africa.[10] Eden launched in the neighbourhood of Downtown Eastside, Greater Vancouver, Canada in 2018.[11] In September 2021, Message Germany set up their first Eden team in Chemnitz.

The model of ‘words and action’ evangelism which characterised both Message 2000 and Festival:Manchester continued in the ‘Big Deal’, ‘Hope 08’ and 'Shine Your Light' initiatives. Supported by police, schools and councillors, Big Deal and Hope 08 brought together local communities to deliver social action and community-building projects in the ten boroughs that make up Greater Manchester. These range from environmental clean-ups, painting, car washes, barbecues, children's activities, fun days and youth concerts. In 2010, The Message launched a national campaign to spread the model of 'words and action' evangelism further, challenging young people to complete 15 specific acts of kindness in their local communities during the summer of 2010.[18]

The Message was a founder member of the Reflex network in partnership with Youth For Christ, delivering ministry in prisons across the North West of England. Outreach workers engage mainly with young offenders between the ages of 18 and 21 but also with juvenile offenders aged 17 and under.[19] Their work spans first-contact detached work on the prison wings through to help with resettlement back into the community in conjunction with the Message Community Hub (see below).

The Message School of Evangelism (formerly Genetik/Message Academy) is an annual gap-year programme for young people aged 17 and over who wish to train in Christian mission and youth work. Nearly 500 young leaders were trained by The Message between 2001 and 2018. The Message Academy course runs over 10 months and involves placements in The Message's community-based Eden projects. Students choose from three specialist 'tracks' – Creative, Urban or Worship – which have attracted guest tutors including Matt Redman.[20]

In January 2013, the charity opened the Message Community Hub (Formerly Message Enterprise Centre), a new business and training hub for young people in the region.[21] Building on The Message's track record for mentoring young men and women from disadvantaged communities and those leaving custody, the centre has created several new businesses which employ ex-offenders.[22] As of February 2019, these include a café,[23] a property maintenance and development business, and events businesses.

During the first Covid lockdown in 2020, The Message Trust saw that a number of their neighbours in Wythenshawe were struggling to put food on the table, so they delivered 60,000 meals and food parcels to families across the area.

As lockdown lifted, the need became even more apparent, so they set up The Community Grocery in Sharston, one of the first of its kind in the UK. For just £5 a year, and £4 a shop, members come into store and can choose 12 items of food from fridge and freezer, tinned goods, bakery, fresh fruit and veg and household goods. They work with a number of major partners and suppliers from FMCG companies who have a surplus of food, helping to reduce food waste. They also work with other charities and church partners to provide practical support, including cookery classes, money management and the Alpha course.

As of March 2023, they have 21 Community Groceries across the UK including Lincoln, Telford, Bolton, Ilford and Burnley, feeding over 40,000 families each week.

In 2017 The Message was a founding partner of Advance 2020 along with the Church of England, Evangelical Alliance, Hope, Luis Palau Association and Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).[24] Advance 2020 describes itself as ‘building towards a huge year of outreach throughout the UK in 2020’ and is additionally partnered with Church Army, Counties UK, Christian Vision for Men, Light, the Pais Movement, Fusion, Youth For Christ, EdgeFest, Kick London, The4Points, the Boys' Brigade, Stewardship, Activate Your Life and Elim Pentecostal Church.[25][26]

During 2014, two UK hubs were launched to develop The Message's reach across the nation of Scotland and the Midlands region. In September 2015 Message Wales was launched when Ignite merged with the Message Trust. Gary Smith, founder of Ignite was appointed Message Wales Director. Since then, The Message have established additional UK hub locations with offices in London, Yorkshire, the North East and the Midlands.

The Message South Africa launched in March 2014, first in Cape Town and then across South Africa.[27] In 2016, The Message Canada was launched in Vancouver, Canada, followed by The Message Germany in Annaberg-Buchholz in 2017.[28]

• Galactus Jack

• The Message official website
• The Message Enterprise Centre official website
• The Higher Tour official website
• Advance2020 official website

• The Message Canada