Soap actors Brooke Vincent, Sacha Parkinson and Antony Cotton are publicising Manchester schools-based anti- homophobic bullying scheme “Taking Action Together” as part of Anti-Bullying Week.

The initiative has been organised by Exceeding Expectations, a partnership which includes The Lesbian & Gay Foundation, The Hope Theatre Company and Healthy Schools Manchester and is supported by Manchester City Council. They are offering special lesson plans, workshops and resources to schools in Manchester to discuss all forms of bullying.

Cotton, who has played the Street’s longest serving gay character Sean Tully for eight years, said: “Education is key – if someone is brought up to believe one thing then by the time they are an adult they’ll automatically think that. No child, no human being is ever born to hate gay people. It’s about getting the right messages out there and working together.”

Vincent and Parkinson play young lesbian couple Sophie Webster and Sian Powers in the soap. Their storylines have included battles with homophobia.

Vincent said: “Playing Sophie has made me realise that it’s not easy to say, ‘Look, I’m gay, deal with it’, because it’s not. Different people have different stories, some people have a terrible time, some people just breeze through.”

Parkinson added: “This is an issue that Brooke and I are really protective about. We want to get the message across that there is nothing wrong with being gay. We always try and speak out, we wear rainbow wristbands in interviews – it’s not just our job, we actually mean it!

She concluded, “Positive projects like this, and storylines like ours point people in the right direction.”