The thought-provoking poems and pictures of pupils from a Bridgend primary school have been published in a mini-book after winning an all Wales competition about smoking.
Almost all of the children from St Robert’s RC Primary School in Aberkenfig, Bridgend, recently entered the competition to create a poem or poster about what smoking inside the home feels like to them.
In total there were 804 entries from 14 primary schools across Wales, with a shortlisted 100 making it into the book. Of the top 100 entries which made it into the mini-book, 28 came from St Robert’s RC Primary School.
The competition and book were created by ASH Wales Cymru, the leading organisation in Wales working for a smokefree Wales. Their latest campaign, ‘Smokefree Homes’, aims to raise awareness of the harms smoking inside the home causes to children, family members and even pets.
Adele Pember, ASH Wales’ Creative Design and Marketing Officer, said, “We’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of entries we received for this competition. We know that over 22% of children are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in their family environment and that is why this campaign and the hard work of all the children involved is so important. Our aim is to raise awareness to families and protect those young people from harm.”
Claire Jones, Healthy Schools Coordinator for St Robert’s RC Primary School, said, “We are so pleased with how successful our children were in ASH Wales’ competition. We were keen to take part in order to continue to develop the work St. Robert’s does towards being a healthy school. Our children took time to consider the effects of smoking in the home and the implications it can have on all the family. We hoped that the children would take these messages home to encourage parents to think about the consequences smoking can have for every member of the family. “
Claire Jones continued, “The children were thrilled with the results of the competition and were so proud to have had their work published.”
ASH Wales will be running a second poetry and art competition from this September to coincide with their next campaign, around smokefree school gates. To get involve and for further information, contact ASH Wales.
