Saucepans/Sexual Health Innovative Education for Learning Disabilities
Saucepans is a multi-disciplinary, community-based child and adolescent mental health service, set up to meet the needs of children and young people in Southampton who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.
It has recently run an innovative project called 'Project Honour - Cultural Fusion' to encourage wider understanding of cultural backgrounds through film and the media.
Work on the project began in January 2008, with a meeting of a group of community engagement police officers, the city safety team, youth volunteering action groups, film-makers, arts-providers, community youth workers and groups of young people.
They wanted to increase the participation of under-represented groups of young people, to improve the mental health of young people, provide safety after school, to make a positive contribution to the community through art and media, and to provide training, skills and bursary across the city.
The project began a month later, with training provided over a 28-week period at various venues in Southampton, after school or college and in school or college mid-term breaks.
Fifty young people took part in Project Honour Cultural Fusion. They were identified by the Saucepans Mental Health Team as being either at risk for offending or exclusion, had mental health issues, were not in education or training or were in some way disadvantaged.
Students between 13-19 years old took part in five separate projects around the city, with a minimum of ten in each group. They were trained in still photography, marketing, event management and film-making.
The project culminated in students producing five short films, which will be exhibited at various venues, including the project's launch at a local cinema.
One participant, Darwesh, commented: "My community is multi-social and we have people from different backgrounds and I am happy to live in this community."
Another, Sadiyo, said: "What I like about the project is that everyone is equal, everyone is heard."