Monday 13 August 2007

Smoke Free Homes and Zones

Today, I had the privilege of attended the Prize Draw Ceremony for Smoke Free Homes and Zones at Parkhead Fire Station.

The Smoke Free Homes and Zones scheme encourages smokers not to smoke in front of their children, and either to make their homes completely smoke-free (the "Gold Pledge") or to reduce smoking to a single room in the house (the "Silver Pledge"). Those who sign up to the pledges get a certificate and a goody bag with things like stickers and magnets. There was also entry into a prize draw for £100 of DIY vouchers. More than 300 households in the East End of Glasgow have now signed up to the scheme.

The presentation was at the Fire Station, because as well as the obvious health benefits of reducing smoking, there are safety benefits too - because there are a higher number of smokers in the East End, there are a higher proportion of fires in the home started by cigarettes.

The £100 DIY vouchers were presented to Gold Pledge winner Christina Raeburn at the ceremony, and she and their family were given a tour of the Fire Station, including getting a demonstration of Parkhead's new Fire Appliance.

It was interesting to hear Christina's story - she said that she'd made the decision some years ago never to smoke in front of her grandchildren. Christina also said that their nagging had helped her to reduce the number of cigarettes she smoked over time. She'd signed up to the Smoke Free Homes and Zones scheme, and felt that she was now almost ready to give up smoking for good.

Hopefully, many other families can take inspiration from Christina; she put the health of her grandchildren and first, and set them a positive example.

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