ASTHMATIC pupils at an Erskine school were piloting a new way to breath easy back in 2009.

Park Mains High was proud to be the first school in Renfrewshire to try out a programme to improve the health of students who suffered from asthma, allergies and sleeping disorders.

‘Buteyko’ was a course aimed at reducing reliance on inhalers and medication by changing the way they breathed, with health-conscious kids at Park Mains soon seeing the results.

First year pupils were testament to the project’s success.

One youngster, Emily Ferguson, said at the time: “Buteyko has been really helping my sleeping at night-time because I haven’t been waking up to take my inhaler.

“When I forgot my inhaler and got wheezy at school, nurse Jill showed me how to stop my asthma without using my inhaler and it really worked.”

Fellow pupil Lewis O’Brien added: “I used to always get wheezy when I was out on my bike but, when I went out the other night, I did my Buteyko and I was fine.”

Also impressed by the Buteyko project’s success was Danielle Burnett.

She said: “If I sit down and do my breathing exercises, it calms my chest down and I feel a lot better.”

Teacher Collette McKendrick added: “There has already been a change in the first year pupils who are involved in our pilot with nurse Jill McGowan.”