Okayyyy...so I'm doing something a little bit crazy but totally worth it as it is for an amazing charity which has so many amazing, seriously life transforming initiatives/projects that are part of the Message Trust family...many that are happening right here in the North East of England through our North East Hub. On Friday 22nd January, I WILL SHAVE ALL MY HAIR OFF, something like a number one all over, live on my Facebook at 8pm. Listen, it could look terrible, I've never done it before but whatevs, it's totally worth it. I love my locks, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

So...what does the Message do and what are you giving into???

Community Groceries - Ragworth (Stockton) launching March 15th. Hexham launching March 1st. As well as 4 other community groceries in the North of England launching this Feb and March. This is off the back of the launch of the first Message Community Grocery in Wythenshawe Manchester. Check this 2 minute video on how they work: https://fb.watch/31L2RTL6Jy/ Also this isn't just about food, there is full on holistic wrap around care available at each grocery to help empower & equip people now and for generations to come. Check out more about the wrap around care here: https://communitygrocery.org.uk/how-we-can-help/

Respect ME - I lead the Respect ME team in Teesside and the North East going into secondary schools under the PSHE umbrella. It is AMAZING and I am so passionate about chatting with young people about the big topics that they really want to talk about. We cover many topics including sex & relationships, self-esteem, bullying, porn, self-abuse, and much more. We are honest about our own journeys, mishaps and all, and openly share about the Hope we have discovered in Jesus and simply how that has changed us from the inside out, heart, mind, and everything else. We love hearing young peoples thoughts and getting the conversations going on the big stuff. We have seen over 15,000 young people aged 11-18 in the past 2 years in 25 secondary schools. During lockdown we as a Respect ME team nationally and The Message Trust bands have produced free PSHE video resources for schools to utilise during this season. Here's a link to those resource videos, so good: https://www.message.org.uk/the-message-today/

Eden - I love Eden. It's all about incarnational living. This is where a group of Christians go to live in the most deprived areas in the UK to live long term as part of that community and being good news in that community. As the Message we have Edens all over the country. Here in the North East, we have Eden teams living in Easterside estate (M'bro), Ragworth (Stockton), Mill Lane (Stockton). We're looking to launch some new Edens in the North East this year, with Redcar being one of those.

Advance & Advance Youth - Okay I love this too, but it really is so good. Advance is all about equipping the gift of the evangelist through Advance groups that gather around once a month to share stories and sharpen one another for the mission field. Similar to Advance, Advance Youth is about encouraging young Christians to be confident in their Christian identity and understanding how God wants to work through them in their places of influence such as amongst their friends at school and them seeing Gods kingdom move in their lives and impacting others lives in the wonderful way God does.

The Message Enterprise Centre & The Oaks - Did you know that 28.6% of adults & 40.4% of juveniles reoffend within 12 months of leaving prison? The Message Enterprise Centre and The Oaks helps ex-offenders leaving prison turn their lives around. And guess what, only 2% who joined from prison reoffended within 12 months and 100% of graduates since 2016 have gone on to gain employment. That is phenomenal. It works! And the impact is great on society too. Check this 2min video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_u9B3OlHl8&feature=youtu.be

LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE - At the start of October we spent the week in Shaftsbury Street in Stockton doing garden work and making planters for each house ready to shoot up in spring. It was awesome and we connected with so many on that street. We have friends who before and after have been living and working on that street for some time now. Wonderful partnership and we will be doing more in the year ahead.

Truly I Tell You Podcast - My friends Bekah and Lydia Young and I created this podcast where we chat about the things we are passionate about in life. We cover a mixture of fun and thought provoking topics and it is available on all podcast platforms. We like it. Check it out too.

Those are some of the amazing things going on through the Message Trust. Please give generously and let's get this head shaved so I can finally empathise with our North East hub leader Terry Young who is short on hair himself.  Facebook live 8pm on Friday 22nd January. If you have read this and you want to actually give monthly, you can also do this here from as little as £6 a month: https://www.message.org.uk/north-east-regular-gift/

THANK YOU!

Love Joe

xxx