Passionate Blog

Time to change: Helping people who've suffered mental distress tell their story

HAVE you seen the Time to Change TV ad yet?

Linda is working with the press adviser for Mental Health Media in the Midlands to help people share their story of how they have been affected by mental illness.

She's in good company as Stephen Fry and Ruby Wax are also speaking out to help end the stigma.

One in four people in the UK are said to have suffered from a mental illness, with depression being up there as the most common.

It's a privilege to be involved in such a campaign and we look forward to helping make a difference, however small.

Making money from commercial writing workshop itinerary, February 21

PLACES are filling up on our JournoBiz workshop for freelance journalists wanting to find out more about the benefits and potential pitfalls of so-called 'commercial writing'.

For anyone interested in booking one of the last few remaining places, here are the details of the day-long event, to be held in central London (the Friends' Meeting House opposite Euston Station) on Saturday, February 21.

Areas covered will include:

Ethics - is commercial writing for you? How can you or should you juggle this with a career in freelance journalism? What are the conflicts of interest and how can they be avoided?

Latest Passionate Media features - diabetes and how to write 'real life' articles

IT'S always good to see our work in print and the last couple of weeks have seen pieces in Sweet and Writing magazine.

We reported on how twins may hold the key to unlock the secrets of diabetes and interviewed some inspirational families about how they cope with the unique challenges of living with the disease.

Writing about such sensitive subjects can throw up its own difficulties. This was explored in greater depth in our piece here which offers realistic advice for freelance journalists hoping to break into this highly competitive field.

Get a sneak preview of Compton's new DVD

WE are delighted with the results of Compton Hospice's new DVD, and well done to Matt Daniels for all his hard work on the project.

Happy New Year and thank you

HAPPY New Year from everyone at Passionate Media and many thanks to the kind individuals who helped us raise £130 for Compton Hospice on our last day in the office before the holidays when Neil donned a Santa Suit.

Watch this space for more news of what we are up to in the coming weeks and months as 2009 gets under way.

We're busy working on some very interesting, worthwhile and rewarding projects, not least training programmes for participants wanting to learn more about either the craft of writing or how to reap the rewards from their writing.

This blog is being overhauled and we hope to unveil a leaner, cleaner and meaner Passionate corner of cyberspace very soon.