A YOUNG actor from the New Forest is championing a campaign to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis.

Charles Duke, who will appear as Sprout the Elf in the Regent Centre’s festive production next month, is calling on members of the public to back the Cystic Fibrosis Trust’s ‘straw breathing selfie’ campaign.

The charity is asking people to try breathing through a straw while pinching their nose to get a feel for what it feels like to have their airways restricted and post their ‘strawfies’ on Facebook.

The 19-year-old, who suffers from the life-limiting condition, says he hopes people will rally behind the initiative and help raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

As part of the campaign a song has been released, which is available to buy from Amazon and iTunes with proceeds going to the charity.

Charles, who lives in Hordle, near Lymington, said: “Our campaign song is called Breathe With Me. The song is performed by Anna Jo who has cystic fibrosis.

“The lyric of the song is asking people to try breathing in the way a person with cystic fibrosis may sometimes experience, during intense moments when breathing is a struggle or on the back of a heavy coughing fit, for example.”

The campaign organisers hope that experiencing this sensation will generate empathy and motivate people to want to help in some way. Charles added: “People can do this by breathing through a narrow drinking straw, while pinching their nose. The idea is to breathe like that for about 60 seconds. In that way people can get some sense of what it feels like with reduced lung function.”

Anyone can participate by taking a ‘strawfie’ and posting it on Facebook.

To make a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust text BWCF64 followed by a £ sign and the amount you wish to donate to 70070.

Those who take up the challenge are then encouraged to nominate three of their friends. To find out more about the campaign go to breathewithme.info