To see how Lottery funding has helped transform the lives of local young people with mental health issues and learning difficulties, Lynne Featherstone MP, visited charities Exposure and Action for Kids, as part of a Big Lottery Fund tour on Friday.

At Muswell Hill based Exposure Magazine, the Hornsey and Wood Green MP and Big Lottery Fund Head of London Region Alison Rowe were shown three powerful films produced by young people, focusing on mental health. The films are part of Exposure’s wider Lottery-funded ‘Mind’ initiative, enabling young people to use the media to explore and recount their mental health journeys, come to terms with their experiences as well as raise awareness for peers and the wider community.

At Action for Kids, a Hornsey-based charity for young people with learning difficulties, the Liberal Democrat MP was shown the Big Lottery-funded computer equipment, tailor-made for each student’s unique needs, to help the students participate in the charity’s decision-making and learn new skills for independent living.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“These two unique charities do amazing work with young people in Hornsey and Wood Green, and it’s so wonderful to see their fantastic work continued and expanded, thanks to grants from the Big Lottery Fund.”

“It was great to meet some of the young people who have found the courage to speak about their mental health issues through Exposure’s ‘Mind’ initiative. This Lottery-funded project has really done wonders for the young people who have shared their experiences, but it has also helped raise awareness of mental health problems amongst youth more widely, and that’s just fantastic.

“Thanks to the generous Lottery grant, young people at Action for Kids have got new ways of expressing themselves, with the help of tailor-made computers. This has done wonders for their independence and their chance to have a say in how Action for Kids is run – really inspiring!