DCC wins No Smoking Day Organiser of the Year competition

Devon County Council has won the Best Community/Local Partnership campaign in the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) No Smoking Day Organiser of the Year competition.

For No Smoking Day 2014, Devon County Council distributed leaflets that outlined free local NHS resources for stop smoking advice. Over 14,000 leaflets were distributed throughout the community, including placement in all 50 libraries across the county.

The Council also teamed up with Exeter University Student’s Guild to run a twitter campaign aimed at students.

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said:  “This award is a wonderful tribute to the work being done in the public health team to help people in Devon quit smoking and improve their health.

“We know that everyone is different, and so will their motivation to quit and the support they need; so we have to make sure we’re adopting the right approach to our campaigns and making sure our support services can be used by as many people as possible.

“Huge congratulations to the staff involved, and  to our partners in Northern Devon Healthcare Trust on this accolade.”

Colin Bray, Development Officer of Devon Libraries said:  “Devon Libraries is delighted to work with Public Health colleagues on promoting positive health and lifestyle messages. Libraries are trusted community spaces available to everybody and weather it is the provision of information or events and activities that support people in giving up smoking, we are keen to continue supporting Devon Public Health in their work.”

The success of No Smoking Day is built on the commitment of thousands of local organisers across the UK and every year the BHF celebrates the ingenuity of local organisers with the Organiser of the Year competition.

One in five UK adults smoke, doubling their risk of heart attack and stroke. The good news is that stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health, and the risk to heart health decreases significantly soon after stopping.

Simon Gillespie, BHF Chief Executive said: “Two-thirds of smokers want to quit, but many find the task daunting.

“The work of No Smoking Day organisers is vital in helping them get the support and advice they need to quit for good. Devon County Council impressed us with their enthusiasm, originality, and ultimately, their success in helping smokers quit.”

No Smoking Day is one of the UK's biggest annual health awareness campaigns. In 2014, the BHF helped hundreds of thousands of smokers take the first step on their quitting journey by highlighting the resources and help available to them.

No Smoking Day 2015 will be held on 11 March and will have a ‘Proud to be a Quitter’ theme, which presents quitting as something to be proud of and uses ex-smokers stories to highlight key motivations for   quitting.

To get involved in No Smoking Day 2015 or to receive information and support on stopping smoking visit nosmokingday.org.uk. Join the conversation on Twitter by following @NoSmokingDay and using the hashtag #NoSmokingDay.