Pfizer UK Foundation supports children’s asthma project in the West Midlands
20 March 2008

The Pfizer UK Foundation has given a grant of £33,000 to fund a project to help children with asthma in Sandwell, West Midlands. The Pfizer UK Foundation supports tailored projects aimed at addressing health inequalities in local communities which are led by those most familiar with local unmet health needs.

Their support demonstrates the quality and innovation of Asthma UK’s local healthcare projects, which are designed to have a long-term impact on people with asthma and their families.

The project is part of Asthma UK’s Challenge Fund, which awards grants to groups or individuals for initiatives that will identify, develop and promote good practice to improve for the lives of people with asthma. The Pfizer UK Foundation is supporting a partnership between Asthma UK and the Sandwell Primary Care Trust and is called Breathe Well in Sandwell.

The grant will fund the work of an asthma specialist nurse for a year, who will develop a self-management programme for children and young people with asthma, work with local schools and train other health professionals in Sandwell to improve asthma services. In the first year, the project aims to help 1,750 children and young people and to reach 300 healthcare professionals.

Breathe Well in Sandwell is a particularly important project as Asthma UK’s report, ‘The Asthma Divide’, showed that emergency asthma admissions in the area are among the highest in England. By helping children and young people manage their asthma more effectively, and by educating more local health professionals, it is hoped that these worrying statistics can be changed.

The project will also help children and young people in Sandwell develop Personal Asthma Action Plans.

Anne Breary of Asthma UK’s Corporate Team said: ‘We’re extremely grateful for this fantastic donation from the Pfizer UK Foundation. This funding enables Asthma UK to work with a local community where help is urgently needed to bring about improvements in asthma management and care.'

Melanie Heaver, of The Pfizer UK Foundation, said: ‘We are delighted to support this innovative and much needed local programme. It is a great example of how a national charity can work on a local level, in partnership with community organisations and the NHS, to deliver community projects which have a real impact on the health of local people.'