A charity founded by a Bow Street woman has scooped three public health awards for its work in helping youngsters through drawing, reading and creating comics.

Rhiannon Mair Griffiths, a former Ysgol Rhydypennau and Ysgol Penweddig pupil, founded Comics Youth CIC in 2015 as a way to help youngsters after suffering mental health issues herself.

Now the charity has won three awards at the Royal Society for Public Health’s Health and Wellbeing Awards, which honours initiatives that help to empower communities and individuals and improve the health of the population.

Comics Youth CIC won the awards for its Building Stories project, which is based around giving a voice to marginalised youngsters, including care leavers, looked-after children and children with special educational needs.

The charity, which works in the Knowsley area of Merseyside, scooped the Arts and Health Award, the Public Health England Commendation for Reducing Inequalities at Community Level and the Public Health Minister’s Award.

Judges praised the project as a “stand out submission and truly one of a kind” for an “excellent and innovative approach” to addressing a recognised need amongst marginalised youngsters.

Rhiannon, who has raised over £400,000 since the charity was founded and helped support over 800 youngsters, said she was delighted the charity’s work had been recognised and said the work to help youngsters would continue.

She said: “I am absolutely thrilled that we have won three awards. The project delivers guided reading and comic-book creation sessions to marginalised young people with the aim of supporting them to become content creators rather than mere information receivers.

“They have the opportunity to write, illustrate and publish their own work. I am inspired by our young people each and every day and it is such an honour to be recognised in this way.”

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