Young People With Learning Disabilities Feature In New Mencap Ad Campaign

I have just received the press release below from Mencap.

 
YOUNG PEOPLE WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY FEATURE IN NATIONAL ADVERTISING
CAMPAIGN
 
Young people with a learning disability will feature in a national TV,
radio and print advertising campaign which aims to raise £300,000 for
learning disability charity Mencap. 
 
Procter and Gamble products available at Co-operative Food and
Co-operative Pharmacy stores will help raise funds for Mencap and sister
charity ENABLE Scotland as part of The Co-operative’s Charity of the
Year Partnership. The promotion will run for six weeks from Wednesday 3
August in Co-operative Food and Pharmacy stores nationwide and Procter
and Gamble will donate 3 pence on each product sold from over 20 of
their brands, including Fairy, Herbal Essence and Pampers, to the
charity.  
 
Ellen Goodey, Ben Morse, Kirstie Andrews, Matthew McCarthy and Dharmesh
Ladd from Mencap were filmed carrying out everyday tasks like any other
young people.  A recent poll by Mencap revealed that a large percentage
of the public (41 per cent) believe that the number of people with a
disability who they have seen, heard or read about in the media does not
reflect that of society as a whole. Encouragingly, 44 per cent of the
public are keen to see, hear or read more about people with disabilities
in the media than there are at the moment 
 
Geraldine Huse, Sales General Manager for P&G in the UK & Ireland
believes this partnership is incredibly worthwhile: “Mencap do
outstanding work and P&G is delighted to partner again with The
Co-operative Food for their Charity of the year programme. We are proud
to bring the strength and reach of our brands and marketing capability
to help raise awareness and much needed funds for this great cause.”
 
Mark Goldring, Mencap’s chief executive, said: “This advert is an
exciting and bold step towards a more inclusive society. We need to see
more positive role models of people like Ellen, Ben, Kirstie, Matthew
and Dharmesh on our TVs and in public life to help remove the stigmas
associated with disability.”
 
Money raised through The Co-operative Charity of the Year partnership
will allow Mencap and ENABLE Scotland to launch a ground-breaking
programme called Inspire Me. Inspire Me will work with thousands of
young people with a learning disability aged 16 - 25, their parents and
carers, and local communities, to overcome the exclusion and prejudice
that many face in their lives. The project will do this by providing
activities and training, together with volunteering and employment
opportunities. 
 
Mencap has worked with Grey London and Smuggler to produce the advert.
 
To see the advert visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9i9B2ZGbAQ