A mental health charity partnership has won £18m of funding to support their anti-discrimination campaign for people with mental health issues.

Led by Mental Health Media, Mind, Rethink and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, Moving People's aim is to tackle the growing problem of mental health stigma for 30 million people in England.

The money was awarded by two different donors; while the Big Lottery Fund's Well-Being programme has granted £16m to Moving People, Comic Relief has announced a £2m award.

Some 84 percent of people with mental health issues report difficulties in getting jobs, mortgages, healthcare, friendships and relationships. Meanwhile 49 percent of people with mental health issues have actually been harassed or attacked.

Due to the stigma, 55 percent of young people said they would not want anyone else to know they had mental health problems.

As part of a four-year programme, Moving People will use the money they receive to run a nationwide anti-stigma campaign. This will include a TV advertising campaign, a website and other information resources. Meanwhile, the partnership will organise local community projects to try to integrate people with mental health problems.

Professor Graham Thornicroft Head of the Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, said: "This is by far the most ambitious programme ever undertaken in England to include people with mental illness right in the mainstream of society.

"We are delighted to have this opportunity to move rapidly towards the eradication of stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness - a fundamental social change that is long overdue."