TWO young Bulgarian women will be giving the people of Salisbury an insight into poverty in their country, with the launch of a new film by an award-winning former BBC producer next week.

Derek Butler made the promotional film, Any and Mimi put you in the Picture, to show the work Salisbury-based charity The Trussell Trust is doing in Bulgaria to help poverty-stricken Roma Gypsy communities.

Mr Butler had never heard of the trust until his son married the daughter of the charity’s director, Chris Mould.

He said: “The more he talked about what he did and the project, the more I wanted to help. He wanted to find some way of making it more visible to people and I said I’ve got the skills to do it.”

The film focuses on 22-year-old Mimi, who has been working for the trust in Bulgaria for four years, as she shows you around a Roma gypsy community, Stara Zagora.

“In reality the camera flatters the poverty,” said Mr Butler. “When you look at it on screen you don’t realise how basic the life is. There’s people in mere rags and there’s no sanitation, it’s extreme poverty. At the same time you see people like Mimi and the hope. People like her have gone off and got an education and now they’re trying to further the community.”

A number of disturbing facts and figures are also revealed in the film, which create a picture of how desperate the situation is for Roma communities.

“It’s happening in Europe, that’s the bit that staggers you. You’re visually, emotionally and spiritually challenged seeing these people that shouldn’t have to live like this. If the film does anything in a small way to change that, that’s the reason I did it.”

The film also shows the House of Joshua, the pilot of the trust’s House of Opportunity project, which helps children learn life skills and get a job when they leave state care.

Mr Butler said: “There’s a massive need and no other charity is trying to change things in the way that the Trussell Trust does. They’re a very committed group of people with limited resources and they fully deserve support. Anything that anyone can do to support them is money well spent.”

You can see the Trussell Trust film at the launch in Salisbury Arts Centre next Thursday (November 19) at 7.30pm. Admission is free, but you can RSVP to the trust on 01722 411244 or email filmlaunch@trusselltrust.org.