Helping children breathe more easily

UK children experience more hospitalisation from asthma than their peers in the rest of Europe, and shockingly, the asthma-related death rate is also higher here. Your support is enabling a team of researchers at Queen Mary University of London to work on ways to reduce this, by reaching and educating secondary school children about the condition. On average, around three children in every classroom have asthma, although numbers are typically higher in urban areas like London.

The team, led by renowned paediatric respiratory researcher Professor Jonathan Grigg, have created the My Asthma in School programme. They are using school-based workshops and theatre performances to help those with asthma to understand their condition and medication. The project will also educate their peers, aiming to reduce the stigma and bullying often associated with the condition.

DID YOU KNOW? Part of the workshop is identifying positive role models – did you know that David Beckham, Paula Radcliffe and Sadiq Khan have asthma?

The sessions are fun and use specialist games to engage students, such as Asthma dash!, which allows children a glimpse into a day in the life of a child with asthma using an interactive board game.

The 'My Asthma In School' team

This approach engages with children in a completely different way, on an emotional level. If we see positive results we’ll be able to use the data for a larger scale study to increase knowledge of asthma.”

- Professor Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London

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