Lýsing á stofnuninni/samtökunum

ASH Wales is the leading organisation in Wales tackling smoking and tobacco use. We are a relatively small organisation with approximately 16 staff. ASH Wales is a charity and company limited by guarantee and has been running as an independent organisation since 2006.

The key activities of ASH Wales are to: Communicate the issues relating to smoking and tobacco use in Wales; build effective networks of interested parties working in the tobacco control arena; provide advocacy and support to individuals and projects working in the tobacco control arena, and to those who are not adequately represented in public health policy or practice; lobby for public health measures to protect the health of all people in Wales from the harm caused by smoking and tobacco; undertake projects and research in tobacco control areas particularly with young people.

Relevant to this project, we have specific expertise in youth-related tobacco control and working with young volunteers aged 11-25 years. We run a youth programme called 'The Filter' which targets young people who are more likely to be smokers or are 'at-risk' of becoming smokers. In Wales, young people who face deprivation and disadvantage are more likely to be smokers or have social networks that have significant smoking behaviour. Therefore, we target these groups of young people to stop them becoming the replacement smokers of tomorrow.

The organisation has expertise in the fields of Research and Policy, particularly with regard to Public Health issues and we have good links to key decision-makers and stakeholders in the Welsh Government as well as with Statutory Public Health bodies. The organisation also has key expertise in Communications and Public Affairs including website copy-writing and Social Media experts and links to politicians in Wales and the UK.