COMMUNITY activist Shaz Saleem is in the running to win a coveted national charity film award for his efforts in breaking the stigma around mental health.

'The Silent Pain' has been shortlisted in the The Charity Film Awards, which celebrates films made for good causes all over the UK.

The film, which premiered last year and was filmed in Halesowen, was made by the Saleem Foundation with Dudley Mind and Black Country Headway to get people talking about their mental health.

Shaz, who is chairman of the Dudley Private Hire and Taxi Association, said: "To be nominated is so humbling, it's an honour."

The film stars local talent in the shape of actresses Rhianna Edwards and Millie Fereday and mental health campaigner and rapper Josh Smith, while the soundtrack was composed by Waqas Rizwan.

Shaz added: "People could be going through God knows what, so we should be kind to every person. We want the film to say it's OK not to be OK."

'The Silent Pain' has already beat 400 applications from around the UK to reach the shortlist stage.

Voting for the film can be cast at: https://charityfilmawards.com/videos/the-silent-pain.

Voting closes in December with the winners announced next March.

While voting continues, The Saleem Foundation continues to spread good works around the borough.

Recently the group held a breast cancer awareness event in Halesowen town centre which raised over £500 for charity Breast Cancer Now.

Jayne Waltho, from The Saleem Foundation, said: “We really are proud of our Think Pink Think Breast Cancer Awareness event, and are thrilled to have raised over £500 for this important cause.

"Thanks to Halesowen BID we have been able to get local businesses involved who helped us raise funds and awareness, organisations like ASDA, NatWest bank and more. This is what The Saleem Foundation is all about, bringing communities together for a worthy cause. We want to thank everybody in Halesowen who joined us and took part in Think Pink Think Breast Cancer awareness.”

Shaz said: “Myself and Ellie Hunt from Halesowen BID were on hand all day but the real credit goes to every individual that contributed, whether that was our donors, our businesses or those that helped us raise such an amazing amount.

"I will personally be visiting the Breast Cancer Now office in Sheffield to hand over this amount.

"Every act of kindness is charity”

With the festive season around the corner, The Saleem Foundation is set to launch a Winter Warmers appeal, where they will collect socks, hats, blankets and gloves for the homeless at an event at Champions Church in Brierley Hill on December 10.