- athlete helps “push” the stop-smoking message
- SmokeFreeLifeBerkshire’s first successful year
- aim is to help 5,000 per year to stop smoking
Ultra-marathon runner Rory Coleman is lending his support to Berkshire’s stop-smoking campaign with a special appearance in Reading town centre.
The elite athlete and former 40-a-day smoker is helping SmokeFreeLifeBerkshire celebrate a successful first year, kicking off year-two with a special “push” for the national month-long “Stoptober” campaign, which starts on October 1.
To encourage people to sign up, Rory Coleman is running 28 miles a day for 28 days across England and Wales. As part of his challenge, Rory will be pushing the giant red “Stoptober Wheel” with the help of local armed forces representatives and members of the public.
PHOTOCALL/INTERVIEW: Broad Street (opposite the Oracle entrance) Sunday September 22.
11.00: Cllr Jo Lovelock and Cllr Graeme Hoskins, celebrating 1st Year of SmokeFreeLifeBerkshire.
12.00: Accompanied by a small convoy and local army unit, Rory Coleman will push the “Stoptober Wheel” around the town centre.
Route follows Friar Street, Queen Victoria Street, Broad Street, Minster Street, St Marys Butts (vehicle route) back to Broad Street, western end.
The SmokeFreeLifeBerkshire service reaches out to smokers across the county in workplaces, shopping malls, town centres, GP surgeries, schools, prisons and mobile clinics, and online at www.smokefreelifeberkshire.com. Since its launch a year ago, SmokeFreeLifeBerkshire has successfully reached its target of 5,000 quitters.
Service provider, healthcare innovations company Solutions 4 Health®, works with partner organisations in each local authority including GPs, pharmacies and the national QUIT® stop-smoking charity, to reduce smoking prevalence rates.
The free service is available to people living or working in Berkshire, including Newbury, Thatcham, Wokingham, Reading, Theale, Mortimer, Pangbourne, Hungerford, Lambourn, Slough, Windsor, Ascot, Maidenhead and Bracknell – and online atwww.smokefreelifeberkshire.com.
Saleen Ahmed-Khan, Solutions 4 Health’s health improvement manager, said: “SmokeFreeLifeBerkshire is a keen supporter of the Stoptober campaign. We know from last year that smokers are five times more likely to stay smoke-free if they make it through the first four weeks. In addition, smokers are four times more likely to quit successfully when they have professional support.”
Dr Lisa McNally, consultant in public health at Bracknell Forest Council, said: “Tackling smoking at the community level is incredibly important, not just for the wellbeing of the community, but also to avoid people developing health issues later.”
More than 8 million people in England smoke, and while smoking rates have declined, the rate of decline has slowed in recent years. Twenty-one per cent of adults in England continue to smoke, which is why the Department of Health aims to reduce smoking prevalence among all adults to 18.5 per cent by 2015.
