National Lottery cash boost for talented troupe tackling disability hate crime across the North East

An award-winning troupe of disabled actors and performers is celebrating today after being awarded nearly £90,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

For over a decade, Shoot Your Mouth Off (SYMO), in Hartlepool, has provided movie-making and song-writing activities for local learning disabled people. Their performances are uploaded to the group’s highly successful YouTube channel, watched by more than 43,000 subscribers. SYMO has won numerous awards from the British Film Institute and the Royal Television Society as well as several national and international festivals.

Now, guided by their mission of “putting disabled people in the picture”, and with £89,766 raised by players of the National Lottery, the troupe are turning their attention to tackling disability hate crime across the North East – and they’re taking the fight right into local schools.

With recorded disability hate crime rates rising across the country, SYMO’s cast bring with them personal stories of bullying, harassment, and social exclusion.

The funding from The National Lottery Community Fund will enable SYMO to produce and perform a presentation – drawing on their lived experiences and complete with sketches, skits, and songs – directly to young people in as many as 30 local schools.

For some students, this will be their first real introduction to learning disabled people and an opportunity to become familiar with and hear directly from members of a marginalized minority, potentially preventing negative attitudes from forming.

One SYMO cast member and beneficiary, Dave, who lives in Hartlepool, said: “Getting this grant is a dream come true. It's great to get new equipment, but the most important thing is that we get to spread SYMO's message.”

The cash boost will also enable the group to purchase a mini-bus – helping it to expand the number of schools it can reach– and to buy new equipment, much to the excitement of its members. Dave said: “With this grant, we can get out of the building and into the world. We plan to visit more than 30 schools in the next two years, and we're all really excited.”

Stephen Carolan, company director, Shoot Your Mouth Off, said: “We're so grateful to players of The National Lottery. This grant is going to help us fulfill our mission to ‘Put disabled people in the picture.’ The grant will be used to take our project directly to 30 schools in the North East.” The grant, he continued, “will help keep our service running for years to come.'

Duncan Nicholson, Head of Funding for North East & Cumbria region at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We use our funding to help create stronger, more connected communities, so we were delighted to help this talented troupe to forge better links between disabled and non-disabled communities and raise awareness of the issues that many learning disabled people face.

“As a funder of community activity, we’re guided by the strengths people bring – what they can contribute – and this ethos is the drumbeat behind every one of SYMO’s shows and songs.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £40 billion has been raised for good causes in the areas of arts, sport, heritage and community over the last 25 years.