Completed petition Save The Filter - An Established Youth Stop Smoking and Prevention Service.

Almost 5,500 people in Wales die from smoking-related diseases each year and 21% of Welsh adults currently smoke. Smoking is an addiction of childhood - a classroom of young people take up smoking every day in Wales; more must be done to reduce this number.

The Filter project, funded by Big Lottery Wales for three years and delivered by ASH Wales Cymru, has been a huge success in educating young people in disadvantaged communities about smoking. But the service is under threat as its funding comes to an end in October 2015. The service offers:

• Face-to-face workshops with young people

• Training for professionals and young volunteers • Stop smoking support via social media

• A youth-dedicated website providing information and advice

The Filter’s youth development team has worked with over 5,000 young people face-to-face at more than 200 sessions across Wales, all supported by a strong social media and online offering. The team has made crucial links in disadvantaged communities across Wales, where smoking rates are highest. The team has also trained over 750 professionals who work with young people.

Over the past 3 years this initiative has provided an invaluable service, tackling our biggest public health priority in Wales. Helping young people to quit, and preventing them from taking up smoking is a key priority for Welsh Government, outlined in the Tobacco Control Action Plan.

Cardiff University independently evaluated The Filter and concluded that all three strands of the project were feasible, flexible and adaptable to deliver.

The Big Lottery Wales grant comes to an end in October this year and without any further funding from Welsh Government or Public Health Wales, we will have no service working with young people outside of school settings. A service like The Filter is critical to securing a smokefree generation and tackling the biggest public health concern that we face in Wales.