Crowdfunding has begun for a popular mental health awareness festival.

The second Bridport Mind Fest will take place in October, to coincide with World Mental Health Day.

The independent festival is founded and run by the people of Bridport for everyone of any age to enjoy and get involved with.

Festival organiser Simon Williams said: "This year we really want to bridge the gap between access accessing services from young people at school to the elderly, and that is a really important aspect of the festival.

"We want it to be accessible to everyone."

The logo for the festival has been designed by a local school pupil.

The winning design came from a pupil at the Colfox Academy, which Mr Williams labelled as "conceptually brilliant", and will be used for future festivals.

Organisers are this year crowdfunding to raise £7000, the funds from which will go towards things like insurance, flyers, venue hire and performer fees.

The fact that a lot of the events are by donation only make it important for pre-funding for the festival.

Mr Williams said: "We want it all by donation, hence why we are doing crowdfunding instead of relying upon one or two big sponsors.

"We started this project with nothing bar a £500 grant from Bridport Town Council."

The new Bridport mayor, councillor Barry Irvine, announced on his inauguration that Mind Fest was to be one of his charities for the year.

Mr Williams said: "We are a really respected organisation and we want it to grow, flourish and spread wider across the country."

Two celebrities, Bel Mooney, the agony aunt and journalist for The Daily Mail, and Dr Jonty Heathersedge of the BBC TV series Street Doctors have been announced for this year's event.

They will be joined by performers such as Rob Gee, and local and national acts, all with their own experiences of mental health.

A programme of workshops, drop in cafes, discussions, art exhibitions and a special programme of work for young people, including activities in local schools has been organised.

Organisers have also been working with Bridport Youth Centre to co-produce a musical production, and will be joined by Dizraeli, and hopefully some of Bridport's young musicians.

With one in four adults and one in 10 children being affected by mental health, the festival aims to tackle this through a wide range of activities for all ages celebrating and supporting mental health, raising awareness of the issue, reducing the stigma and discrimination around mental health and offering practical steps to support ourselves and each other.

Last year's festival saw visitors coming from as far as Bristol and Exeter attend.

One attendee at the 2017 festival said: "The Bridport Mind Fest made us all realise that there are other people like us.

"I felt able to talk to people I know about mental illness and what it is like."

The festival will take place in venues across Bridport, including the Arts Centre and Town Hall, for six days from October, 5 until October 10.

Mr Williams, said: "We want the festival to achieve openness on discussion and an understanding of mental illness.

"We want to make Bridport and the much wider community into a friendly and more caring place."

To donate to the event or to find our more information about the plans, visit crowdfunder.co.uk/bridport-mind-fest-2018 or visit bridportmindfest.org