Read All About It!

This page lists details of some news stories and reports of events under the Hope banner in Greater Manchester. Please scroll down through the various articles to discover the amazing move of God across Greater Manchetser throughout this year of Hope. Although we can not feature every newsworthy story for Hope in Greater Manchester please still let us know what you are doing under the Hope banner.

10,000 Hours of Hope - we did it!

On Thursday 6th August and Friday 7th August over 1000 young people completed 10,000 Hours of Hope across the whole of Greater Manchester. From Bury and Bolton in the north to Stockport in the south and everywhere in between the young people set to work improving and contributing to communities all over Greater Manchester. The young people came from all over the UK with teams as far apart as Aberdeen and London. The two afternoons proved a huge success for all involved.

There were two large projects in Ordsall and Brinnington. Each project had over 200 people on site and worked with the council, police and local churches to accomplish a huge amount of good work for the local community.

With representatives of the partnerships involved at Brinnington.

Cleaning an alleyway in Ordsall

There were also 23 local community projects partnering with the local church and community groups all over Greater Manchester. They were held in Reddish, Kersal, Eccles, Flixton,  Langworthy, 3 locations in Bury, Old Trafford, Altrincham, Farnworth, Halliwell, Cheadle, Didsbury, 2 locations in Failsworth, Fitton Hill, Greenacres, Northern Moor, Openshaw, Cheetham Hill, Collyhurst and Crumpsall. Nearly 600 young people were spread amongst these areas impacting a wide geography of communities.

 After a hard day's work

The 10,000 Hours of Hope was a great success and if you don't believe us check out these links to local press coverage!

http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/4533562.Young_people_spread_the__Message_/  

http://www.towerfm.co.uk/article.php?article=11683  

http://www.inspiremagazine.org.uk/news.aspx?action=view&id=3634  

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/354/377/5590/3/3  

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/354/377/5617/3/3/0/

http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/28514/young-give-estate-a-clean-sweep

And here's a pdf of another couple of articles in the Salford Advertiser - click here

!Audacious Unleashed!

On Saturday the 8th of August 2009 something was Unleashed that for the day changed the face of Manchester City Centre and the hearts of some forever. The city centre was hosted a sports zone, a circus zone, live music and the first ever bungee crane in Manchester's city centre. Spinningfields was taken over by  hosting a football cage, open-air table tennis, inflatable challenges and generally a lot of fun as well as an acoustic music stage and a bungee crane. Cathedral Gardens on the other hand was awash with circus performers and young people (and some older too!) being taught circus skills. All of this was completely free for the public...including the bungee crane!

Football in the cage at Spinningfields

Cathedral Gardens awash with the circus

Audacious Unleashed - the concert!

At night LZ7, BlushUK and the Audacious Band put on two amazing back to back gigs in Manchester Central to thousands of young people. At the first gig there was also a new world record set for the biggest game of musical statues (still to be officially confirmed). Reggie Dabbs also wooed the young people with his usual blend of humour and straight talking. Many people that had experienced all the fun events during the day came along and responded to his message changing their lives forever.

Hope - The Evaluation

Hope2008 was supported nationawide by a central office based in Brighton. They comissioned a report into the effects of Hope2008 across the country which Hope in Greater Manchester was involved in by supplying information and testimonies from the year. Below is a message from the national office.

We had no idea what was going to happen in 2008. As the 2007 countdown flew by, we could only hope that the ‘word and action’ vision was out there.

We soon found out that the passion and drive of the church in the UK is amazing, and we saw involvement from a huge variety of denominations and church streams. Thousands and thousands of churches took the ‘do more, do it together and do it in word and action’ challenge of Hope08 and made it their own. We never saw this coming – so many communities have been reached by the gospel that we are humbled and often overwhelmed.

A while ago we commissioned Theos, the public theology think tank, to carry out an independent evaluation of Hope08. This evaluation illustrates how Hope08 happened, what worked, what didn’t, what was learnt and what’s still being dreamt up. It also shows how many people were involved in making Hope08 a success. We can’t take the credit for any of these statistics, but we can get excited about them!

You can find the evaluation on our website if you click here

We’ll be bringing out a brand new resource book. It’s going to be called Hope For The Future and will provide resources, proven ideas, new ideas, best practice examples and lots of stories from last year. It’ll be:
- released on July 1st
- £2.99 each, or order 10 for £2 each and free Postage and Packaging
- available from www.wesleyowen.com, Christian bookshops, 0800 834315
- pre-order your copy now: ISBN 9781860245725

The Hope in Greater manchester office would like to thank all who contributed to making Hope2008 a success and hope you will continue to support us through 2009 as we don't let up and continue to look to reach your communities with the message of Hope.

Prayer in the City

In the year of Hope prayer was given a vital focus to the compliment the ongoing word and action throughout 2008. Since the 12th century Manchester Cathedral has been a focal point for all Christianity in Manchester and once again these evenings will provide an opportunity for a blend of all traditions and denominations to unite in Manchester Cathedral for praise and intercession to see God's kingdom come in Manchester as it is in heaven.

Throughout 2008, in March, July and Novemeber many hundreds of people came together to celebrate all that happened over the year and look forward to events still to happen. The evenings were all hallmarked by a desire for unity amongst the church and a passionate desire to see God's kingdom to be revealed in Manchester. Many people of all ages, denominations and backgrounds came together for these opportunities to join with people from all across Greater Manchester to give thanks and to acknowledge the impact its had on Greater Manchester as a whole.

The prayer events recognised the impact Hope2008 had upon Greater Manchester and the catalyst it had been for increased mission, increased prayer and increased unity. At the prayer event plans for Hope in Greater Manchester to continue throughout 2009 were announced in recognition of the need to continue the good work started in 2008. In view of this Tuesday, March the 10th 2009 saw the first united prayer event of 2009 and it signalled a change of direction for these events and a new start for the new year. The night was a cry to God to heal the city in the backdrop of the econmoic and spiritual bankruptcy occuring across the nation. This was followed up by another outstanding evening of prayer on July the 14th, 2009 where hundreds of people gathered together to pray for young people and Hope for the Future.

The next prayer event is to be held on Tuesday, November the 3rd, 2009 at Manchester Cathedral at 7:30pm. More details will follow in the near future.

For futher information call the Hope in Greater Manchester office on 0161 946 2332 or email info@hopemanchester.com  

Picture this!

So you have an idea that you'd like to bless your community and you have an idea you want to reach out to your community with the message of the hope of Christianity. But are you are stuck for an actual, tagible idea? Well why not try this on for size...offering free family photograph potraits. In today's economic climate such studio shots are a premium that most people cannot afford to invest in and yet what could be nicer than a nice family portrait to remind people about what is truly important in life. It's a great opportunity to give away a lasting reminder of the blessing and a great opportunity to strike up a conversation.

Download this guide by Alan Saunders on running a Hope Photograph Project to see all the considerations and maybe you'll find it's both quite achieveable and effective.

Hope for those in debt

Everyday the newspapers are filled with the economic crisis that is impacting the UK and further afield. What the newspapers don't tell you is there will be people in our communities, your street and your church impacted by the credit crunch and may very well be struggling with crippling debt.

Jesus preached many times during His ministy about money and specifically spoke about giving help to those in need. In such times as these the church needs to be prepared to react to help and provide support for those in their communities and in their congregations affected by the current economic situation.

Hope in Greater Manchester has brough together three of the main Christian debt counselling / debt advice organisations in order to highlight the work they do as well as provide a platform for equipping the church and individuals with the information they need to get the help they need.

Care for the Family

Care for the Family's website says, "Many people are worried about managing their finances in light of the current economic climate. And the ‘credit crunch’ and rising cost of living are hitting many families in the UK.

One of the ways in which Care for the Family helps families is through The Money Secret Adult Education Course. A number of communities are running this course to give people better insights into handling money, escaping and avoiding debt, and finding financial security."

Care for the Family have many resources including the aforementioned Money Secret course, the Cash for a Month scheme and Quidz In course. To find out more on all of these visit Care for the Family's website Here

Care for the Family have some new resources which will help in coping with the consequences of the current financial climate:

'60 Minute Debt Buster' - can be read in 60 minutes but contains a wealth of information to help if you are facing debt .. and ways to work through your debt problems...
Home Repossession leaflet - to help you avoid seeing your home repossessed - easy to read (crystal mark for plain English) - good to give away. Could your church serve your community by making this available for them?
Quidz In - course for parents to help them to raise financially confident kids. Training to deliver this course coming to Manchester in the late spring early summer. Ring Joy to secure your place - numbers limited.

Care for the Family's representative in Manchester is Joy Wright and you can contact her on:

Mobile: 07966 314 481

Email: Joy.Wright@cff.org.uk

Stewardship Money

Stewardship Money states, "Biblical stewardship is more than money. Creation and the environment, our time and talents and much more are important. But often money is the subtext to difficulties we have in these areas. So if you are looking for biblical and practical thinking about money or want to take practical action in your church and community we can help:

Giving: preaching, teaching, small group resources and training on the joy of giving and growing generous givers
Managing: practical workshops, resources and hands-on training for managing money: budgets, saving and borrowing
Debt: support for those struggling with debt or anxious about money for themselves or those they love
Volunteering: finding financial freedom - debt, giving, planning, managing. Your volunteering can help make a difference."

Stewardship money specialises in traning budget coaches for local churches and for providing budgetting courses. They run local courses entitled 'How Churches can help people with debt.' There is one of these information evenings in Stretford, Trafford on February 27th February - click here for more info.

To find out more information see the Stewardship money website here.

In Manchester the local representative is Tony Cunliffe. To contact Tony email tony.cunliffe@stewardship.org.uk

Chrsitians Against Poverty - CAP

CAP dexcribes itself as, "a national debt counselling charity with a network of 92 centres based in local churches. CAP offers hope and a solution to anyone in debt through its unique, in-depth service.

Christians Against Poverty partners with local churches across the UK to deliver top quality debt counselling services, which not only provide a sustainable solution to poverty but also transform lives, both practically and spiritually."

CAP offers CAP money courses for local churches but also runs CAP centres around the country in partnership with the local church.

The CAP money course is a three session, DVD-based course. For each session, there is a 30-minute presentation by John Kirkby, the Founder and International Director of CAP, and the remainder of the session is then facilitated by a Money Coach. Money Coaches are members from the church who have been trained by CAP to run the course and be on hand to help with the preparation of budgets.

CAP centres provide the local partner church with:

A professional debt counselling service offered free of charge to people in your community.
A chance for church members to be empowered to serve the community.
An individual or team trained by CAP, working as volunteers or paid staff to set up and run the centre.

For more information on CAP visit their website at www.capuk.org

There are CAP centres in Bolton, Langworthy (Salford), Macclesfield, Sale, Salford and Tameside. To find out details of your local centre click here. To call CAP UK phone on 01274 760720 and email on info@capuk.org

Hope Unleashed in Macclesfield

On the 1st of February 2008 the first in a series of Hope Unleashed gigs took place in Macclesfield Leisure Centre. The gig came on the back of a concentrated focus of school's weeks throughout Macclesfield where In Yer Face, LZ7 and BlushUK were in schools leading a week of mission for the pupils. The concert kicked off with the Genetik Revolution to great audience delight, Dweeb followed them before BlushUK and LZ7 got the crowd going. Interspersed among the performances In Yer Face brought a series of dramas relating the gospel to the audience in their unique hard-hitting style. Lindz West of LZ7 finished off the gig by challenging the audience with the gospel. Of the 700+ in the audience over 200 responded to the challenge which over the next few weeks will be contacted by churches to encourage them further in their decision. Not only was this the biggest Christian youth concert in Macclesfield but the biggest youth music concert ever in Macclesfield...and it had the specific purpose of bringing HOPE to many of the youths in Macclesfield. A night to be remembered for some time to come.

For photos on Flickr click here

See what the local press had to say - Click Here

Hope Unleashed in Oldham 

The second in the Hope Unleashed tour saw Hope Unleashed in Oldham on Saturday the 15th of March 2008. The Queen Elizabeth Hall played host to over 1000 young folk from Oldham. Once again the lead up to the event in schools played a massive part in making the climax gig a great success. Havershaw, Bluecoats and Noth Chadderton High Schools had a combination of Blush and tbwnn in the weeks leading up to Unleashed in Oldham.  LocDown, Reflex's prisons band, joined these two bands on the night to continue the unique blend of music and multimedia presentation of the gospel that Unleashed is becoming known for. 90 youths responded on the night and the follow up started straight away with the Salt Cellar inviting all those who responded to attend a follow up meeting on the Thursday night following the gig. If not the biggest youth gig in Oldham this was a landmark night for the area and all to the glory of God.

Hope Unleashed in Bolton and Bury

The third installment of the Hope Unleashed Tour saw a joint gig for the boroughs of Bolton and Bury. The Bridge in Bolton was filled with 700 youths off the back of a number of successful schools weeks in the area. Elton High, St. James' and Canon Slade High all were visited by either LZ7 or Blush in the lead up to the event and each school was positively impacted by the bands. On the night there were great performances by Genetik Revolution, Blush and LZ7 while In Yer Face also contributed to the night. The highlight of the night was an acoustic song by Blush accompanied by ex-WWMT Quin Delport. After Lindz West gave a challenge to the audience about the gospel, 50 young folk responded to learn more about the challenge. Those who responded to the challenge are being followed up by churches in their local area all across the boroughs of Bolton and Bury. Once again the night was a success and continues to build the momentum of Hope Unleashed across Greater Manchester.

Hope Unleashed in Wigan

After a short break of a couple of months due The Urban Adventure and other unforseen circumstances the Hope Unleashed Tour got back on track visiting Wigan where earlier in the year the Hope in Wigan event had been a huge success. The venue may have been different this time but the evening was just as big a success. LZ7 and BlushUK produced some more excellent performances and there was great encouragement taken from the size of response from the young folk that attended which when put together with the gig earlier in the year represents a great boost for the church in Wigan.  The momentum of Hope for the youth of Greater Manchester continues to grow as we head into the second half of the year with still three more dates on the Unleashed tour.

Hope Unleashed in Rochdale

Hope Unleashed returned with a bang when it stopped off on it's tour at Champness Hall in Rochdale. After a short break over the summer the bands were back in style as they performed to a packed venue. An audience of over 600 heard performances by thebandwithnoname, BlushUK, Twelve24 and LZ7. After school weeks in various Rochdale High schools including Fallinge and Wardle High schools there was a great impact on the pupils during these weeks and culminating in the Hope Unleashed gig. Lindz West of LZ7 preached to finish the night and there was a great response as the young people connected with he message he was sharing. Heading into the last quarter of the year there are only two more dates left on the Unleashed tour...catch them before it's too late!!

Hope Unleashed in Stockport

The penultimate event in the Unleashed tour of Greater Manchester so the bands collectively give one of their best performances yet at Stockport's Plaza Theatre. The Plaza was packed with over 650 young people coming from all over Stockport especially from the various schools the bands had held schools weeks in leading up to the event. BlushUK were in Marple Hall and Cheadle Hulme high schools and thebandwithnoname were in Bramhall high in the weeks leading up the event. The response at the event was significant and through fantastic partnerships the follow-up is now in the hands of the local church and Christians in Schools Trust. The night was a fantastic event to prepare the way for Hope Unleashed: The Big One...the one not to be missed!

Hope Unleashed - The Big One

November 28th 2008 will be a date etched in the memories of many people. Manchester's Apollo was filled to it's 3500 capacity with young people from all over Greater Manchester to see LZ7, BlushUK, thebandwithnoname, Twelve24 and the Audacious band perform. The bands set the stage alight with their professional and high-energy performances. The audience was bouncing to the beats. At the end of the day is was all to God's glory! Lindz West challenged those in the house with the call to live life in high-definition. Many responded to the challenge and for them this date will most definitely be etched in their memory as the night that changed thier lives. This represents what Hope is all about.

Hope08 visits Clarence House

In an amazing turn of events Hope08 representatives were invited to meet with Prince Charles, the future monarch, to share their stories of Hope. Representatives from the entire UK  were present at the reception including a delegation from Greater Manchester.

The delegation were able to speak with Prince Charles and share with him all the work that is going on across Greater Manchester under the Hope 08 banner. In response to hearing the stories the Prince said,

"I just wanted to say how full of admiration I am for all your extraordinary activities, your devotion and your ability to motivate other people. I do understand how difficult it can be in this day and age overcoming what I feel so often is rampant cynicism, which provides an enormous hurdle at the start. And I also have the feeling that there are an enormous amount of people out there who long to do more but feel terrified because they think they're going to be thought of as old-fashioned."

The audience with Prince Charles represents a milestone in the impact that Hope is having across all levels of society. Hope08 really is impacting and changing a nation making some of the most influential people in the UK take note of the work being done to the glory of God. If one thing can be taken from this episode it is to encourage those involved in Hope08 that what you are doing is being noticed and the good work under the Hope08 banner is impacting the whole nation in a positive way.

Hope Prayer Support 

We are trying to build a team of people across Greater Manchester to pray for specific HOPE events as they happen through the year. The idea is to have ongoing prayer at each venue.
Prayers will start an hour before the event and will go on all the way through to when it
finishes. Those interested can sign up to pray for 15, 30, 60 minutes or more.

We are believing God for many new people of all ages to respond to the gospel this year through
events such as Hope Unleashed, schools’ weeks and mission events. Our hope is to then see them discipled and part of a vibrant church in their area. In order for this to happen our level of prayer and
intercession for the lost has to increase. We need to have all these events soaked in prayer.

If you have a heart for prayer and would like to get involved in this exciting way of extending
God’s kingdom in Greater Manchester please contact:

James Aladiran
Hope Prayer Co-ordinator

Email: james.aladiran@message.org.uk

Phone: 07985 671 650

To download a flyer click here

PeaceBuilders

Do you work for a charity?

Or in the voluntary, community or faith sector?

Got a conflict?

Want to let your colleague know exactly how you feel?


Peacebuilders is a new independent mediation service for the voluntary, community and faith sector in Greater Manchester. We provide support, advice and mediation from fully qualified mediators.

For an informal and confidential chat call:

Laura Gilchrist on 078 5556 7563.

www.peacebuilders.org.uk

Who's involved in Greater Manchester?

Organisations are coming on-board all the time, to add your details please email: info@hopemanchester.com  

The Message with The Big Deal: www.bigdeal.org.uk

Innveration Trust: www.innervation.org

Rhema Theatre Company: www.rhematheatre.org

Manchester Diocese: www.manchester.anglican.org

Methodist Bolton & Rochdale District: www.barmd.org.uk

City Links: www.citylinks.org.uk

Evangelical Alliance Network: www.ea-network.org

City Light Trust: www.inspiration.org.uk

Week of Prayer for Greater Manchester: www.weekofprayer.org

Manchester City Mission: www.manchestercitymission.com

Barnabus: www.barnabus-manchester.org.uk

Maranatha: www.maranathacommunity.org.uk  

Pais: www.paisproject.com

Altrincham Baptist Church: www.altrinchambaptist.org

World Harvest Bible Church: www.goyewhbc.com  

Care for the Family: www.careforthefamily.org.uk

Chick Yuill is chairing a Hope Greater Manchester CORE group of representatives from various churches, organisations and denominations across Greater Manchester. Chick would love to hear from anyone interested in joining this group, email: chick.yuill@hopemanchester.com