Action!

Action Duchenne, the only UK charity focused on finding treatments and a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, has recently embarked on a film project made jointly by those living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy throughout England and young people from London’s East End. The project is funded by Vinspired (V), a national, independent charity dedicated to helping young people volunteer in ways that matter to them, and by Mediabox, which promotes opportunities for young people to be involved in media projects. V’s mission is to make volunteering opportunities diverse, compelling and easy, to encourage 16–25 year olds in England to get involved and help others. Since its launch in May 2006, V has worked with more than 500 charities and community organisations to create more than 925,000 youth volunteering opportunities.

Action Duchenne’s film aims to dispel stereotypes and increase awareness of life challenges faced by both disadvantaged groups. It explores various themes including isolation, vulnerability, pre-conceptions and relationship issues, and has been accepted for screening on the BBC Big Screens across London in celebration of the London 2012 Olympics. The Football Association has also agreed to screen the film across UK venues.

The film is one of several arts-based projects that Action Duchenne has developed as part of a three-year programme, which aims to increase awareness of, and raise money for, clinical research. We initially consulted with more than 100 of our young volunteers. This important initial research highlighted that the key areas of interest for volunteer projects were the arts and sports.

For Action Duchenne, an important factor was that the film should be produced to a high enough standard that it could be considered for wide-scale community and national screenings at prestigious venues. Working with Media Box, a consortium led by First Light Movies and Media Trust in partnership with Skillset and the UK Film Council, ensured that the project involved close working with practicing industry professionals who have worked at leading artistic venues including the Barbican and South Bank Centre.

The project was youth led, but working with Media Box ensured that the young people were provided with the right technical skills to produce a high quality piece of work. The project used online forum sessions and remote access workshops, with a focus on technical skills development including storyboarding, directing, camera, lighting, sound and editing. A residential learning course enabled inner city young people to get hands-on experience of making a film at locations across England, including Manchester, Coventry and Eastbourne. The mix of online, remote access and residential learning ensured that the programme was fully inclusive.
The young people worked together to write, produce and direct the film, developing other skills including team work, confidence, communication skills and working with new people outside their local community, Nick Catlin, our CEO, said: “The project brought together two groups of people who otherwise would never have met, helping them learn skills in new situations and opening up new ways of thinking about themselves and others’ life situations. Our Duchenne boys, who often have a very limited social circle, sometimes only mixing with immediate family, will also be able to use their new skills and confidence to produce high-quality films and work independently to raise awareness of the disease in their communities. This film project now gives them a voice.”