STARTLING figures about drink and drugs in Swindon have landed a creative Isambard School pupil in the running of a national competition inspired by the plight of Malala Yousafzai.

The Malala Youth Voice Competition has been launched by the National Schools Partnership and Into Film along with Fox Searchlight Pictures to celebrate the cinema release of the film, He Named Me Malala.

It is calling on students aged between 13 and 19 to make a short campaign film of between 6 and 60 seconds to raise awareness of a subject close to their heart. The idea behind the project was to encourage youngsters across the country to speak up and make a difference just as Malala has done.

Isambard pupil Sydney Bell’s film highlights that in Swindon there are 16,116 adults who are very frequent drinkers, while 3,477 pupils have had alcohol in the last week. Alarmingly six per cent of Swindon's pupils have also taken drugs in the last month – according to figures quoted from Swindon and Wiltshire Alcohol and Drug Service.

Sydney was given information about the competition by her Media teacher, Nick Evans, but she devised, researched, wrote and filmed her video entirely on her own and in her free time.

She said she was concerned about what she perceives as a growing drugs problem in Swindon and she wanted to use this opportunity to tell her peers about the dangers of getting involved with drugs and alcohol.

She said: “I would like to stop any more fatalities from young people getting involved in substance abuse. I hope my film will help spread the message and educate people to be aware of what they might be getting into.”

Votes can be cast to support Sydney’s video until midday on Friday by visiting: www.nationalschoolspartnership.com/malalacomp.

By Wednesday afternoon she was streaming ahead of the competition with 95 votes.