The two collections were launched in Bristol in the Autumn of 2015. The charity United Response assisted.

The mental health collection is called “Poems for…Self at Sea” and consists of 30 poems. It was funded by NHS Westminster.

The learning disability collection is called “Poems for…Bridges to Learning Disability.” This one consists of 20 poems and was funded privately.

A significant number of authors contributed to each of collections, several writing from first hand experience, others from many years of close proximity. The poems were carefully selected.

The poems are formatted in poster form and are available free of charge both in hard copy and online. The posters are small but can be enlarged. Alternatively, they are available as part of an attractive booklet produced by United Response.

But these days there are other ways, of course. For instance, we have made the mental health poems into a slideshow, for display on digital screen. Each poem was also recited out loud and the recitations recorded. And then the recitations were blended with the slideshow, the words onscreen matching the words out loud.

The result is on Youtube. Here is a link to it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmtDPbcyves

What next ? Might someone project the slideshow onto a public wall ? During Mental Health Week, perhaps ? Any takers ?