The winner of the Solutions 4 Health West Midlands poster competition was announced this week.
The winning entry by Roland De Lemos, a 6-year-old boy from Coventry, featured a drawing of a crying heart which simply and effectively speaks volumes about the dangers of smoking. “Many smokers are still not aware that smoking is the lead cause of cardiovascular disease and that smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack compared with people who have never smoke,” explained Jacqueline Ralph, Solutions 4 Health Regional Service Manager.
The competition was open to all Key Stage 1 pupils in the West Midlands and featured the theme ‘take the leap and stop smoking’ to fit in with this year’s No Smoking Day campaign. The winning poster will be used by all the Solutions 4 Health stop smoking services this autumn. The winner also won four tickets to Alton Towers for him and his family.
Second place went to Louise Harvey from Stoke on Trent who won four tickets to Water World.
Further special prizes went to:
- 10-year-old Holly from Kidderminster who won a £15 bowling voucher for the effort she put into her poster
- 9-year-old Amber from Walsall who won a Swingball for her eye-catching design of a cigarette asking for help and it being offered by an open mouthed bin
- Finally, an extra special prize went to 5-year-old Hayley, from Stoke on Trent for her extremely effective and heart felt design depicting a gravestone and a picture of a daddy smoking with the little girl saying “You stop smoking now Daddy”.
The competition highlighted how much children are aware of the dangers of smoking, and has also raised awareness of the support available in the region and nationally to help with families make their homes smokefree.
