New awards event, the Ability Media International (AMI) awards, recognises creative and comms work from those who have faced major physical, mental, emotional or social challenges.

The event, to be held on the 17 November at recently opened London arts venue Kings Place, has been developed by Ability Media, a learning initiative developed jointly by Kensington and Chelsea College and Leonard Cheshire Disability. Ability Media has developed a media centre in Southwark designed to train disabled people in radio, television and digital production and communications skills. It is the only centre of its kind in the country.

The awards event will recognise excellence in e-communications, corporate video and interactive media, amongst a number of other categories.

Wayne Drew, chairman of Ability Media said of the awards, “‘The communication sector is central to how we define ourselves within a civil society. They impact on how we construct our aspirations, responsibilities, goals and even influence the formation of our individual and collective identities.

"Integral to this is the impact of how communicators, whether corporate or mainstream, represent the true natures and abilities of people from under-represented groups.

"That is why we have developed our new AMI Awards which are designed to identify outstanding achievements in those arts and media industries which help promote a better, more tolerant and more fully inclusive world."

More details of the event can be found at www.amiawards.com.