One In Five for Sunday 9 May 2010

At the end of last month Mike Gourley caught up with John Key at the launch of Special Olympic's Athlete Leadership Programme. The PM was among a number of dignitaries congratulating the inaugural group of ten global messengers, which is stage one of the programme. Special Olympics New Zealand chief executive Kathy Gibson says that people with intellectual disability are often spoken "for" or spoken "about". Now there'll be training for athletes to learn skills that allow them to speak for themselves and for others.

View images of the Beehive launch

At the Beehive launch of Special Olympics global messengers, from left to right, Special Olympics NZ Chief executive Kathy Gibson, inaugural global messenger Crystal Frethey and Prime Minister John Key.

Taimi Allan (pictured below) warms up a gathering of the Like Minds campaign national providers seminar prior to dinner being served. You'll be familiar with the John Kirwan ads and the like which target the stigma and discrimination often associated with mental illness. But the ads are just the tip of the iceberg. They're the frontline of a campaign that's working across communities in all parts of the country. Over the next few weeks we'll be profiling the people behind the campaign - starting with Taimi Allan from Mind and Body consultants. Taimi Allan says her role now's a far cry from when she was a flight attendant - where admitting you had a mental illness was an invitation to be sacked.

Taimi Allan in full swing at the recent Like Minds campaign provides seminar in Auckland.