A GROUP of digital artists with learning disabilities have been awarded thousands of pounds to create a number of individual films.

The £49,900 grant money will fund a new “Creative Bridges” project that The Shadowlight Artists can now embark on.

The six-member group, which was set up by Film Oxford, will be working with professionals throughout the project to learn new skills and create individual pieces.

Member Richard Hunt, 42, from Rose Hill, will be working on his project with professionals at Magdalen Road Studios.

He said: “My film I hope will be quite different, it is about waterfalls and will use lots of lights.

“I loved it down there [starting on work with Magdalen Road Studios] because I like to be with the other artists.

“It will be a story about the waterfalls, it will be a piece about a lady that comes out of the bubbles. It was my idea.”

Mr Hunt, who has Down’s Syndrome, has a keen interest in abstract style paintings and will create a large scale painting with the professional studio as well as a film portraying the narrative behind the painting.

For six years, East Oxford-based Film Oxford has supported the group from its beginnings, and prior to this trained people in film and media for more than 30 years.

The Shadowlight Artists grant was awarded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The project is in its early stages with artists meeting with their professionals to put forward ideas and work on starting their individual projects.

Also producing a film is Danny Smith, 40, from East Oxford. Mr Smith has Down’s Syndrome and was knocked over by a car in Wallingford when he was 18.

He said: “I am going to make a film on caves. I always like making films with caves and the idea is to find a cave to film in.”

Mr Smith’s project will be a story of himself dreaming he is in the stone age and creating cave paintings. The film will be lit by firelight.

The first part of the project saw the Shadowlight Artists create a short fantasy film together as a group. They designed and created mini-film sets before acting out the story in front of a “blue screen” – which allows for a background to be computer generated at a later date – to superimpose the artists as giants. All pieces created during the project will go towards a final exhibition to be shown during 2016 and 2017.