Youth Reach needs support in competition

ENNISCORTHY Youth Reach is hoping that the people of Wexford will lend their support in a national competition.

The group have submitted their film project ‘Earth Addiction’ into the awards and are calling for public support via online viewing to win one of the top awards in the X-Hale Youth Awards.

X-HALE is an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society which aims to empower young people to tackle smoking in their communities and raise awareness about the dangers of smoking among their peers. The X-HALE Youth Awards national showcase event in the Light House Cinema in July will be the finale of months of hard work by youth groups nationwide in preparing short films and projects to encourage young people to be smoke free.

Ahead of the national event which will see the entries judged by an independent judging panel, Enniscorthy Youth Group have the opportunity to win the public vote via online viewing on You Tube. The X-HALE Youth Awards 2016 entries are now live at www. cancer.ie/xhale2016 and can be viewed up to June 29. The entry with the most views will win the Online Award as well as a ‘Go Pro’ camera for their group.

Sarah Chadwick, Cancer Prevention Officer at the Irish Cancer Society said: ‘We are so proud of everything that the young people from Enniscorthy Youth Reach have achieved. They have educated themselves about smoking, learned new skills and worked together to create a piece of work that will inform and inspire other young people across Ireland and beyond. They are leading the way in the movement towards a tobacco free society and improving the health of their local communities. We commend their commitment to establishing Ireland’s first smoke free generation. We are asking the public to get behind their local group or favourite entry by watching and sharing the X-HALE 2016 playlist.’

This is the sixth year of the X-HALE Youth Awards and smoking rates among young people continue to decline.