Workplaces take action for No Smoking Day 2010
01 March 2010
Hundreds of smokers in Northern Ireland are taking the opportunity of No Smoking Day – Wednesday 10 March – to quit smoking. Carrickfergus Borough Council and Gillian McAtackney, Workplace Smoking Cessation Specialist, are preparing to help smokers in the borough as they join millions of UK smokers to stop on No Smoking Day. This year’s theme, Break free, we can help, acknowledges that No Smoking Day is the time for smokers to break free from their smoking habit and escape their chains of addiction. The theme is a message of support and empowerment that has come from smokers themselves.
So why not break free this No Smoking Day? You can break free with the help and support that is available across Carrickfergus. Those who do stop smoking on 10 March will gain health and financial benefits in next to no time, including:
- Feeling fitter and having loads of energy to start that healthy lifestyle – not feeling out of breath when the dog takes you for a brisk walk!
- Saving loads of money – giving up a 20-a-day is like a £42 a week pay rise! Stop on No Smoking Day and by June you can save over £500 or £1,764 by Christmas!
Organisers from the Environmental Health Department in Carrickfergus will be manning an information stand in the Tesco superstore on the day. Carrickfergus Amphitheatre will also have a stand promoting the day and have donated prizes for a competition in the local secondary schools.
Alan Barkley, Director of Environmental Services said "Employers should embrace the opportunity to help their employees to quit, with the help and support of the Workplace Smoking Cessation Specialist. This is a win/win situation for all involved and we are fortunate to have this new service available to local businesses."
The Workplace Smoking Cessation Specialist can offer local employers a number of services to best suit the needs of each company. These include information materials to employees, information sessions to smokers wanting to quit, provide information on smoke cessation, signposting employees to local smoke cessation specialists and where numbers permit, working with employers to offer a workplace stop smoking service during work time.
Here’s some top tips to help you:
- Talk to your GP or pharmacist, get some Nicotine Replacement Therapy such as patches or gum. It can double your chance of stopping.
- Write down all the reasons you want to stop and stick it on the fridge to help you stay motivated
- Talk to your friends, family and workmates - support from them is essential –- why not quit together and keep each other motivated?
If you are interested in quitting ask your employer to contact the Workplace Smoke Cessation Specialist. Tel: 028 2566 5803
More information about No Smoking Day activities in the borough is available on Council’s website - click here
For further information please contact:
Alison Marsh
Telephone: 028 9335 8000
E-Mail: alison.marsh@carrickfergus.org