THE National Poet of Wales has composed a piece to mark World Cancer Day.

Ifor ap Glyn, who lives in Caernarfon, published the Welsh-language poem Ail-ddychmygu as part of the RIME project. It aims to educate young people about cancer risks, to assess the validity of medical research claims found online, and competitions to write a poem about cancer research.

The project is being led by the Wales Cancer Research Centre and Cardiff University.

The poetry competitions, which include Welsh and English-language categories, takes place until April 30. The winners will receive £150 each in book tokens for their school and have their poem displayed publicly at a cancer research facility.

Mr ap Glyn said: “It was a privilege to contribute to this project, especially because of the opportunity to speak directly to some of the scientists and medics who are constantly working on cancer research here in Wales. And as they explained their work to me, I was getting ideas about how I might share that through a poem.

“It’s important to keep bridging between the twin worlds of the sciences and the arts in this way. I hope that children who watch the film will be inspired to learn more about medical research and I look forward to reading their poems.”

For more information and to take part in the competition visit the Wales Cancer Research Centre website.