Sexual health DVD shortlisted for national award

A sexual health DVD involving staff from the Trust’s West London Centre for Sexual Health (WLCSH) has been shortlisted for the UK Sexual Health Project of the Year Award.

‘Sex, Lies and DVDs’ is one of only four projects in the running to win the award run by Brook, the national sexual health advisory organization.

Dr Rachael Jones, Lead Clinician and Sandra Bennett, Nurse Lead for Young People at the West London Centre for Sexual Health, have been heavily involved in this innovative project with the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith to increase teenagers’ awareness of sexual health issues.

Rachael explained: “The Lyric are presenting a play in January and February called ‘Spring Awakenings’ which includes a teenage pregnancy, gay relationship and other issues relevant to young people.

“They are taking the opportunity to produce a short film illustrating the importance of sexual health among young people which will be distributed to all Year 11 students in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

“We have been involved, alongside the Lyric, professional filmmakers from the BBC and a group of teenagers who have been recruited to help create the film so it is made by young people for young people.

“We invited the team who are involved in the project to visit the West London Centre for Sexual Health so that they could gain an insight into how we work.”

Rachel Tyson, Creative Learning Projects Manager at the Lyric, said: “Being  shortlisted for the Brook Awards is a great achievement which would not have been possible without the commitment and support of the team at WLCSH.”

‘Sex, Lies and DVDs’ will not only be distributed to thousands of youngsters in Hammersmith and Fulham but will also be available to watch online on the BBC Switch website which is targeted at teenagers.

‘Spring Awakenings’ has enjoyed a successful run on Broadway during which it has won 8 Tony Awards – it is a musical telling the story of a group of teenagers journeying from childhood to adulthood and experiencing teen pregnancy, gay relationships, sex and depression.

The show is running at the Lyric Hammersmith from 23 January to 28 February—see www.lyric.co.uk for details.