Jo applauds Auchinairn asthma campaign

10.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 11th May 2009

Jo visited Auchinairn Primary School on Friday and congratulated pupils on their advocacy for asthmatics.

A delegation of pupils from Auchinairn Primary visited the Scottish Parliament last week to mark World Asthma Day. The children, all members of the school's Asthma Committee, were screening "Breathe", a film they made with actor and director Jimmy Watson and filmmaker Andy Lenihan. The film aims to improve understanding of how children's lives are affected by asthma.

One in eight children at Auchinairn is asthmatic - well above the national average of one in 11. Two recent reports by Asthma UK Scotland have highlighted how children with asthma are often excluded from activities their friends enjoy, arguing that adults need to be better informed as to how to include and support them.

Jo, who is also asthmatic, held a Q&A with the pupils and was also treated to a sneak preview of part of a new film being made by P6, "Alien at Auchinairn", which tells the story of an alien landing on earth and joining in with the pupils at Auchinairn Primary.

Commenting, Jo said:

"It's absolutely fantastic that the school is encouraging children to talk about how asthma affects them, and incredibly inspiring that the children are now campaigning to change the way we think about the condition. I suffer from asthma myself, and I understand the difficulties it can present. A greater general awareness of how children with asthma can be supported would certainly go a long way to helping them to stay healthy and happy."

Related Links:

For more information on the children's visit to Holyrood, see this article from The Herald

For more information on Asthma UK Scotland click here