Louder Than The Music

Andy Hawthorne, who was a member of the former British band World Wide Message Tribe, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Andy now heads up The Message Trust which works in schools in and around the Greater Manchester area. The Message Trust runs full-time bands, such as the hugely popular LZ7, which bring the Christian message to young people in a relevant manner.

"The Message Trust is delighted to announce that our founder and CEO Andy Hawthorne has been awarded an OBE in today's Queen's Birthday Honours List", read a statement from The Message Trust. "The honour recognises Andy's outstanding achievements and service to young people in Greater Manchester for almost twenty years. Since leaving his clothing business to work full time in schools in 1992, Andy has built a formidable reputation as a champion for young people and a pioneer of initiatives that help the hardest-to-reach young people in schools, prisons and disadvantaged local communities."

The OBE, Order Of The British Empire, is a highly distinguished honour established in 1917 by King George V. The honours list is published twice a year at the time of the Queen's official birthday and at New Year. The lists contain people from a wide variety of backgrounds and whilst anyone can be nominated for an honour, only exceptional people receive one. Other notable people awarded an honour in this year's list include the actor Colin Firth (The King's Speech) who received a CBE, and heptathlon athlete Jessica Ennis and cricketer Alastair Cook, who both received MBEs.

Through its schools bands and theatre company, 17 long-term urban youth partnerships and work with young offenders, The Message Trust now reaches over 100,000 young people a year in Greater Manchester and beyond. Thousands of young people attribute the radical changes in their lives to the work of The Message. Many former troublemakers have become staff members and key volunteers of the charity.

The Message Trust is held in high regard by other youth agencies nationwide and has received commendations from Prime Minister David Cameron and Chief Constable, Greater Manchester Police Peter Fahy as well as business leaders such as Michael Oglesby (Bruntwood) and Brian Souter (Stagecoach). This Friday, the charity hosts its annual Urban Hero Awards, recognising six extraordinary young people who have been helped by the charity over the last year.