A BRAINTREE mum is involved in a new project to highlight art as a therapy for mental health problems.

Trina Whittaker, of Boscawn Gardens, became a carer for her son Mark after he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia about 20 years ago.

Mrs Whittaker has been awarded a British Empire Medal as she established the Braintree Rethink Art Group.

The InFinnity Project celebrates the life of Finn Clark, a talented illustrator who took his own life in late 2015, aged 25.

He had been diagnosed two years before this with a form of psychosis and depression.

The project is to be launched in London during Mental Health Awareness Week on May 12 and will raise funds for Rethink Mental Illness.

Mrs Whittaker said: "This project is a great way to encourage people to express themselves.

"At the art group we run, I regularly see the benefits of art for people living with a mental illness.

"The process of working on a piece of art can help to ease stress, as well as building people's confidence."

The project will invite submissions from adults over the age of 18 who are living with some kind of mental health issue, and who are looking to use art as a way of dealing with these.

Submissions will be collected until the end of September 2017, and the results of a judging panel in a number of categories will be announced on World Mental Health Day, October 10.