Tipperary group's hard-hitting film on dangers of smoking wins national award

Clonmel Youth Training Centre has been awarded the prize for Overall Senior Category Short Film Competition Winner at the Irish Cancer Society X-HALE Youth Awards 2019.

The group scooped the award for its short film “Evening News” which was showcased at the recent event in the Helix in Dublin. The film featured a hard hitting report on smoking, with medical interviews and a vox pox on the impact of smoking.

Fellow Tipperary groups, Fethard and Killenaule Youth Project and Youthreach Cappawhite also submitted entries to the film competition and were at the awards ceremony on the day.

Over 400 young people from 56 youth and community groups across 22 counties showcased their anti-tobacco films in the Helix, Dublin. The groups wrote, directed and starred in their films and worked hard to promote them through events in their communities.

Joanne Vance, Community Programmes Manager with the Irish Cancer Society said, “X-HALE is going from strength to strength and this year has seen a record amount of film entries to the competition. I want to congratulate Clonmel Youth Training Centre who submitted a fantastic, thought-provoking film. We are very proud of all the young people and their youth organisations who showcased their films at our national event and promoted their work in their communities.”

“While smoking rates have declined in recent years, there is a still huge amount of work to do to prevent young people from taking up smoking and supporting those who do, to quit.  That is why it is so inspiring to see young people coming together to campaign on against tobacco at local, national and European level. Ultimately, we want to see this leading to a completely smoke-free generation,” Vance concluded.

This is the ninth year of the X-HALE programme, a youth smoking prevention initiative of the Irish Cancer Society. The programme aims to de-normalise smoking and encourage young people to drive the movement towards a tobacco free generation.

For further information about X-HALE and to watch the entries visit www.cancer.ie/xhale