A football club’s charity is to work with the NHS to help tackle the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems.

Brighton and Hove Albion’s charity arm, Albion in the Community (AITC), will run the Game Changers project with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Volunteers will produce a film and design and provide community workshops to increase public aware- ness and understanding of mental health.

The one-year scheme has been awarded funding by Time for Change, a national programme run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and supported by the Department of Health and Comic Relief.

Game Changers is one of 13 projects around the country who will share more than £525,000 worth of funding between them.

Andy Porter, deputy director for social inclusion at Sussex Partnership said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Albion in the Community – they are an inspiring local charity.

New skills

“This project will have a big impact on local understanding of mental health issues at the same time as giv- ing a group of volunteers a real opportunity to develop confidence and new skills.

“We hope that this will be the first of many partnership initiatives between us.”

Sussex Partnership will work with AITC to recruit local volunteers with ‘lived experience’ of mental health to produce the film which will then be used at events and workshops.

The project will also work closely with the Albion itself to raise awareness of mental health issues.

Stuart Christie, head of AITC health said: “Working with our group of volunteers we hope to break down some of the misconceptions around mental health by promoting social contact between people with lived experience of mental health and the wider population.”

A project coordinator for Game Changers is expected to be appointed in the coming weeks with volunteers starting work on the film in May.