Anti-smoking service targets young people in Wales
Neil Puffett
Friday, May 11, 2012
A public health charity has been awarded more than £850,000 to fund the first anti-smoking service in Wales aimed specifically at young people.
Charity Ash will run The Young People’s Quit Smoking Service after receiving money from the Big Lottery Fund.
The service will include online support for young people through social media, text messaging and a telephone helpline tailored to teenagers.
It will also feature a volunteer programme so young people can help with the service themselves.
Funding for the project will allow for seven staff to be recruited to run the service for three years.
Elen de Lacy, chief executive of Ash Wales, said: “There is currently a huge gap in smoking cessation support tailored to young people in Wales, but it is vital to reach them before a life-long addiction takes hold.
“Our research has shown that traditional youth focussed tobacco education programmes have left young people in a passive position.
“They are usually designed by adults, delivered by authority figures such as teachers, and are often perceived as punitive. Such programmes fail to embrace the realities of young peoples' lives.
“This service will ensure young people design their tobacco control programme and that the programme resonates with the realities of their everyday experiences at home, school, and in their communities.”
Around 14,000 young people aged 11 to 15 try smoking every year in Wales.
Around 14 per cent of 15-year-old girls and nine per cent of 15-year-old boys regularly smoke in Wales, generally concentrated in areas of deprivation.
