Bristol's bully beef

A disability organisation in Bristol has put together a DVD, titled In Our Own Words, hoping to raise awareness of bullying of disabled young people. John Langley and Beth Richards, two of its stars and creators, tell Cathy Reay how they hope their short autobiographical film will help others to tackle bullying

John Langley, who has mobility difficulties and learning disabilities, wanted to retell his experiences of being bullied at school to help kids in the same situation now: “We wanted to make a film out of it because we know it still goes on.

“In the film we decided to reinact true life stories based on experiences we’ve had; there’s one scene where someone in a wheelchair is bullied by the staff of an inaccessible café, which I was in, and another set in a playground where a girl is accused by her classmates of cheating on a test because she had a helper present.

“Some of the team put together a couple of cartoon-like animations which showed hard-hitting scenes of bullying. We thought they would be a more powerful way of explaining some of the stronger content and break up the way it was being put across.

“There are about 15 of us involved in the project, all doing different things like putting together artwork, acting, writing a script. Everyone got involved in a different way.

“The DVD gives out the message that disablist bullying happens in so many different ways, and through this project we are trying to raise awareness and minimise that.

“The DVD is going to be shown in schools and colleges and we’ll also have a launch here in Bristol.”

Because of her learning and mobility impairments, Beth Richards required assistance in school exams and wanted to reinact a situation where she was bullied because of it. Says Beth: “I think it gives off a really strong impression. In the scene, my on-screen classmates taunt me, calling me a cheat for having a support worker present in a test. The way it is done really promotes the idea of telling someone if you are being bullied. It was great to act it out and see it all come together; I love drama so I had a lot of fun making it!

“We really hope that by showing it in schools it will show teachers how to notice bullying and do something about it.”

• The Listening Partnership is a forum group for young disabled people to come together and discuss their views on life in Bristol. To find out more, call Sarah Howard on 0117 9038918 or email sarah.howard@wecil.co.uk