29th April 2003

Learning Difficulties Media, an initiative from Mental Health Media which will promote and support media involvement for people with learning difficulties has been awarded £158,900 over 3 years start up funding from the Department of Health's Section 64.

As well as offering training in media skills and film production for people with learning difficulties, the project will also provide awareness training for journalists and filmmakers, host an annual media award and produce video and new media resources.

The funding from the Department of Health will enable Mental Health Media to staff the project for one day a week at its Holloway Road premises. Initial work will involve monitoring of the current media climate and finding out from people with learning difficulties about what they think of the way the media represents them. Further funding is currently being sought to turn this knowledge into practical projects and expand the staff team. Learning Difficulties Media will be involving people with learning difficulties at all levels - as project staff, on the advisory group and as volunteers.

David Crepaz-Keay, Chief Executive of Mental Health Media said, "We are delighted to receive this funding from the Department of Health as it will enable us to develop a dedicated media resource to support people with learning difficulties. The videos and resources we've produced to date, in partnership with organisations such as People First and Mencap, have proved popular and successful. It will be great to harness this expertise, enable more people with learning difficulties to access a wide range of media and promote better public awareness and understanding of learning difficulties."

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For further information please contact Kate Summerside at Mental Health Media 0207 700 8171: email kate.summerside@mhmedia.com

Notes to Editors

1) Mental Health Media

Mental Health Media is a unique communications organisation which challenges discrimination around mental health by promoting the voice of mental health service users in all media.

Mental Health Media www.mhmedia.com offers a range of video and new media training materials, provides media skills training courses, runs the annual Mental Health Media Awards and works with journalists and broadcasters to inform their coverage of mental health issues.