A HEREFORD-based media company have won a national award for their work to help teachers and health workers talk to children about sex.

Catcher Media, based in the Eign Hill area of Hereford, has been presented with the Pamela Sheridan Sex and Relationships Education Award at the UK Sexual Health Awards 2014.

The award recognises their work on the EasySRE website which features videos that encourage young people to discuss sex and relationships.

Top comic, novelist and actor Jenny Eclair presented Catcher Media representatives with their award at the ceremony in London earlier this month.

The company's co-director, Rick Goldsmith, said: “It’s great to see a company from Herefordshire being recognised nationally. The website is the culmination of a nine-year partnership with the NHS and Walsall Council, and we are especially proud that the website and the films we made are really making a real difference to young people’s lives.

“What makes the website special is that young people are at the heart of all of the films and resources. They act in them and come up with strong ideas, and we all work really hard to make them relevant to other young people – and not boring or patronising.”

The judges of the award were impressed with the collaborative nature of the project which was centred on young people’s needs, and the overall effect there had been on a reduction in teenage pregnancy rates in the target area of Walsall.