14 January 2008

NHSG/06/09

KICK BUTT! campaign launching in Moray

Invitation to media:

You are invited to attend the launch of a new service in Lossiemouth for young people trying to quit smoking, on Friday, January 16, at 12 noon, at Lossiemouth Community Centre.

There will be interview and photography opportunities with pupils from Lossiemouth High School, who devised graphics, posters, and t-shirts to highlight the new service, PT Guidance Teacher Cath Reilly, and local members of NHS Grampian's Health Improvement team.

The new service is called 'Kick Butt!' and includes a drop-in facility for pupils, at Lossiemouth Community Centre, between 12:45 and 13:45 on Fridays. That is a confidential service for schoolchildren, with staff from NHS Grampian's Health Improvement Team offering support and advice on stopping smoking. The drop-in facility is just part of a range of health improvement activities.

Smoking tobacco remains the single greatest cause of preventable ill health and early death, leading to coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer. Smoking will kill many of today's teenagers in their later years. Most young smokers from Moray1 start at the age of 13 years and it's estimated1 11% of young men and 17% of young women in Moray smoke daily or most days, and the majority 6-10 cigarettes a day, which is similar to figures gathered in 2001.

To address this, Moray Health Improvement Team are working with Kick Butt!, a group involving pupils from Lossiemouth High School and Health Improvement assistants from NHS Grampian. They are looking at a range of ways to prevent young people from starting smoking, and helping those who wish to quit, by:

  • Providing drop-in sessions to help young people quit smoking.
  • Providing confidential drop-in sessions offering support and advice on stopping smoking to young people delivered by the NHS Health Improvement team, Moray. The new drop-in facility for pupils, is at Lossiemouth Community Centre, and is available between 12:45 and 13:45 on Fridays.

Lossiemouth High School pupils created the Kick Butt! name and designed a series of colourful and striking images to reach young people with the messages of the effects of smoking, such as wasting money, bad breath and tooth decay. The Kick Butt! campaign is aimed at all pupils in the Burghsea area.

Kick Butt! is working in partnership with local retailers, youth cafes, GP surgeries and pharmacies in Lossiemouth, to highlight the messages of smoking cessation.

ENDS

1. Moray Youth Lifestyle Survey 2007. Secondary school pupils in Grampian took part in the survey.

For further information, please contact Marka Rifat at NHS Grampian Corporate Communications, on 01224 554400.

NHS Grampian
Corporate Communications Department
Ashgrove House
Foresterhill
Aberdeen AB25 2ZA
01224 554400