Stephen Baldwin helps Message Trust raise £60,000 for Haiti

Actor-turned-evangelist and Celebrity Big Brother contestant Stephen Baldwin helped pull in the crowds for a benefit concert in aid of Haiti on Thursday.

The Heart for Haiti concert at the Manchester Apollo was rushed together by Message Trust leader Andy Hawthorne and local church leader Anthony Delaney after returning two weeks ago from a humanitarian visit to areas devastated by the 7.0 earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation on January 12.

The suffering they had witnessed while delivering medical aid to overstretched hospitals in capital Port-au-Prince and nearby island La Gonave prompted them to hold the concert in a bid to raise funds for more aid.

The concert raised £60,000 with Manchester bands LZ7 and Blush, singer Hannah Atkins, a full gospel choir and local theatre company In Yer Face all taking to the stage.

The funds raised will go to the relief work in Haiti by charity Compassion UK. More than 70 people signed up to sponsor children in Haiti during the concert.

“I was thrilled to be a part of it,” said Baldwin. “We all need to respond to this crisis. Even though the pictures are starting to fade from our TV screens, we need to keep the people of Haiti in our minds and hearts.”

Hawthorne added: “The people of Manchester have responded wonderfully to the call to help the people of Haiti through giving, sponsoring and even going. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the night in whatever way.”