A charity music event to help re-build Haiti

Jonathan: This has captured the hearts of people hasn't it?

Ashley: It has, it really has. YFriday have said, we'll come down and be with you. Don't need paying for it; just want to be part of the event. Andy Hawthorne says I'll be there too; I'll bring one of my bands and The Message. We want to be fully on board with this. I picked up the phone to Abundant Life and just shared something of this and they said we're on board with you. We'll come and our main worship guys are coming down. Let's really make this a night to remember. So we've got a very worship focus for the night and that's done on purpose. That we can actually touch heaven and change earth on one night. That will be a great night to be part of. Knowing that as we are worshipping, meeting the creator God, we're actually making a difference in His creation, in what we do.

Jonathan: The Victoria Hall's a great venue for this too?

Ashley: Ah, and they've been really supportive. We picked up the phone to them very quickly and they just happened to have a Friday night, one of their main nights, it was free on Friday 12th. So we've got that and they've been supportive and they're throwing their weight behind this. We're really thankful to the guys of the Victoria Hall and the Ambassador Group for their support in this. I picked up the phone to some friends who are into sound and visuals and they're all saying yeah we're on board; we don't need paying for this. So we're hopeful that this is a totally free event and every penny can go to raising the funds that are needed.

Jonathan: Now for people listening, we want to encourage them to come to this event, because it's going to be a fantastic event in its own right, but just the fact that it's about this, it's a one off. It's - this is action as well as entertainment.

Ashley: I've been involved in events over the last two or three years and we've had some great events. All of which have been worthwhile - had a purpose. This feels very different. For me personally this feels very different. I said to my wife Moira just the other day; I said Moira you know, three years ago I couldn't have picked the phone up to some of these guys and just said let's do this - let's do this together. You almost think has God been putting things in place, that within a forty eight hour period, you can get all this in place, and it's ready to go. That's a phenomenal thing and for me it's only God at work. Because as these guys are free, the place is free, the sound guys are free. We've now got flyers, we've got promo DVDs; it's on facebook. You guys here at Cross Rhythms are all involved. That's the relationships that God has been putting in place over a number of years. He sees the beginning and the end; He knows what's necessary at this point to have everything in tune and ready to go. I think its part of God ordaining this moment for us and this is a moment we can step into what God has got planned for this city.

Jonathan: And maybe He's looking for us to make a response in this.

Ashley: Absolutely.

Jonathan: He's looking for us the people of Stoke-on-Trent and even further afield. You can get to the event on February 12th. If you can't, you can tune into Cross Rhythms, and you can listen to it on 101.8FM in Stoke-on-Trent, 96.3FM in Plymouth, 107.1FM in Teesside or online as we're going to be broadcasting it live that night. Tell us about the ticketing pricing structure.

Ashley: Well this has been a nightmare really. Because normally we'd say the ticket price for an event is X, but we've not done that on this. Basically this is a free event. You don't need to pay for a ticket to come to this event; you can just ask for a ticket and that's fine. A free event. What we are saying is that we would like you to make a donation for your ticket. Whatever you want to give, we will accept as a price for your ticket. Because it's donation we can gift aid it as well; if you're a UK taxpayer we can get some money back on that. We have suggested a minimum donation, but we're not held to that. Certainly there's no maximum donation put on; you can pay whatever you want for your ticket. The suggested minimum donation, just because we thought it was right just to put something down, was £10 for an adult and £5 for a child, but they are genuinely free tickets. If you want to come and you can't afford to pay to be there, we still want you there. We want you to be part of the night with us; we want you to worship with us. That's a genuine offer: if you can't afford it, you come anyway. We want you in the body with us. But if you can afford to pay we need you to pay. Because that's what this night's about. It's about making a difference. That's partly about each of us putting our hand in our pocket and making it happen.

Andy Hawthorne

Jonathan: So there's no reason why anybody can't come to this?

Ashley: No, no.

Jonathan: If you're on low income and generally these things are hard get to, this is your opportunity and at the same time you can empathise with the people of Haiti and just the real trauma of what they've been through and are still going to continue going through.

Ashley: Just to say, Andy Hawthorne is currently out in Haiti. He's flown out this last week with a friend of his, identified that one of the hospital we visited when we were there twelve months ago. Part of it has been demolished. One of the parts that have been demolished is the medical supplies unit. So all the medications buried and they can't get at it. The people that are still alive still need the medication. So he's done a deal with Virgin Airways and they've given him a tons worth of free space. He's over there right now at this hospital with the medication, getting that in so that the patients can continue being treated as they need to be to live and survive. He's going to be with us on the 12th sharing some of that story and it will be fresh, because it will be first hand. He'll have seen, been a part; he's been there when these two last kinda shakes have been happening. So will be able to tell us how people are and what's going on, what the current situation is like and what the immediate needs are.