ASH Wales Calls for more Smokefree Spaces in Wales Following London’s Health Commission Report

ASH Wales welcomes the report released today by the London Health Commission recommending that open spaces in London, including parks and public squares, should become smokefree. The organisation is now calling for the same in Wales.

In 2013 ASH Wales led the way with its successful Smokefree Playgrounds campaign which saw all 22 local authorities in Wales committing to make children’s playgrounds smokefree. Earlier this year the organisation launched a new smokefree spaces campaign, #SharetheAir, which aims to make spaces where young people meet, play and exercise smokefree across Wales.

Elen de Lacy, Chief Executive of ASH Wales, said, “We are pleased to see authorities in London committed to smokefree spaces. Wales should be leading the way and expanding on the successful smokefree playgrounds initiative to include other spaces used by young people. There is overwhelming public support for smokefree spaces in Wales, with nearly three quarters of Welsh adults in support of smokefree children’s play areas. The time is now to make our outdoor leisure spaces smokefree.”

Research shows that second-hand smoke exposure is damaging to long-term health, particularly in children whose lungs are smaller and therefore take in more smoke relative to their size. Young people watch adults smoking in parks and outdoor spaces and see this as a normal activity. Smoking is actually a deadly, addictive habit so it is important to denormalise smoking and make sure today’s children do not become tomorrow’s long-term smokers.

ASH Wales is calling on all local authorities in Wales to act now and implement smokefree spaces across Wales.

ASH Wales Cymru Wins Prestigious Award for Keep the Ban Campaign

ASH Wales and wales tobacco control alliance are 2013 gold winners in CIPR Cymru Pride Awards

ASH Wales and the Wales Tobacco Control Alliance have been named gold winners in the Public Affairs category in the 2013 Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Cymru PRide Awards.

This year’s awards which took place at the Hilton in Cardiff saw a large number of the region’s leading public relations practitioners attend the ceremony, hosted by Matt Johnson.

ASH Wales’s high profile Keep the Ban campaign which helped overturn the Welsh Government’s decision to exempt the film industry from Wales’s smoking legislation was described as a “clear and well thought through campaign”.

The judging process for the PRide Awards is rigorous with a national panel of industry experts assessing the shortlisted entries and choosing the winners. The 2013 Chairs of Judges, Gill Dandy FCIPR, Senior Consultant at The Centre for Strategy and Communication, and Chris Genasi FCIPR, Senior Consultant at APCO Worldwide, assisted in ensuring a fair and consistent judging process.

“The judges particularly liked the use of social media, as well as more traditional lobbying tools; the use of background research with key stakeholder groups; and engagement with ASH Wales’ youth project, The Filter, to support and drive the campaign”.

Judges’ Comments

“The CIPR Cymru PRide Awards celebrate the very best public relations campaigns, teams and individuals from across Wales. The exceptional quality of entries received this year is a real testament to the thriving industry which exists here. The CIPR PRide Awards represent the best, most creative and most effective public relations work across the UK regions and nations and to win an award is a great achievement.”

CIPR President Sue Wolstenholme FCIPR

Youth Stop Smoking Service to Launch Snapchat Campaign with Community Art Project

The Filter, ASH Wales’ flagship youth stop smoking service, is to launch its latest campaign this week, using popular image-sharing application Snapchat to connect young people with advice and support to help them quit smoking.

The Big Lottery funded Filter project is in its third year of supporting young smokers to quit, sharing information and promoting a healthy lifestyle. The new campaign, ‘Snaptober’, has been timed with the national Stoptober campaign, which encourages people to quit smoking for the duration of October. Young people will be able to follow The Filter (+thefilterwales) on Snapchat and receive tips and advice, each day during October, on topics such as how to cope with cravings and how much money quitting smoking could save.

The Snapchat campaign will be launched on Thursday 2nd October at Forsythia Youth project in Merthyr Tydfil, where young people will work with The Filter’s youth development team to create a large spray painted graffiti mural to promote the campaign. The Filter project has developed a close working relationship with the Forsythia youth project over the last two years and gained the trust of local young people, who have participated in educational workshops. Taking part in ‘Snaptober’ will be the next step for these young smokers to quit for good.

The former Youth Mayor of Merthyr Tydfil, Daniel Walsh, was part of the Forsythia youth project, and has recently quit smoking. He said:

“I am really excited that The Filter team are coming to Merthyr Tydfil to launch their Snaptober campaign. I was grateful for their support when I recently quit smoking, and talking to the advisers was really helpful. Using Snapchat is a good way to reach young people as it’s something most young people are already using anyway.”

Rhys Simmons, Youth Development Manager at ASH Wales, said:

“Working with young people on a project like the Snaptober mural is a great opportunity to engage them in discussions and information about smoking and health. The Filter has worked closely with the young people from Forsythia over several years and built up a trusting relationship which enables us to work effectively and promote positive health messages. This is why we’ve chosen it as the location to launch our new Snapchat campaign, which makes the Stoptober challenge relevant to young people in Wales.”

Young people who would like advice and support to quit, or have questions about smoking, can follow The Filter on Snapchat ‘thefilterwales’.

Illegal Tobacco in Wales – The Problem

Almost half of smokers in Wales have been offered illegal tobacco to buy and 15% of all tobacco sold in Wales is illegal, according to new research published by ASH Wales. Wales has one of the largest illegal tobacco markets compared to each of the English regions.

ASH Wales has commissioned the first ever survey into the scale and extent of the illegal tobacco market in Wales. The findings suggest that a quarter of Welsh smokers buy illegal tobacco with almost 60% of them buying at least once a month.

Illegal tobacco includes foreign brands made especially for the black market; cigarettes and tobacco smuggled from countries with lower taxes and counterfeit or fake cigarettes. It is often sold under the counter in shops and bars, in private houses and in car boot sales. The cigarettes sold on the black market are much cheaper than legal cigarettes making it easier for children to start smoking. The people who sell illegal tobacco are often linked to the selling of other illegal goods like drugs and alcohol, therefore buying illegal tobacco helps support organised crime.

The Health Minister, Mark Drakeford, said, “Smoking is one of the leading causes of early death; and we are implementing a comprehensive range of measures to reduce the harm caused by tobacco. The trade in illegal tobacco is undermining our efforts to control tobacco use and to help people give up smoking.”

“It is important that we support more people to quit smoking. Stoptober is a great opportunity for smokers to be part of the challenge and give up.”

Mark Drakeford – Health Minister

“It is shocking that Wales has such a large illegal tobacco market. There needs to be investment and a comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue. The North East of England also had high sales of illegal tobacco but investment and a concerted campaign with several partners working together has brought the level down to 9% compared to 15% in 2009.”

Elen de Lacy, Chief Executive of ASH Wales

“We look forward to working with enforcement agencies and other partners to have a positive impact on the use and attitudes towards illegal tobacco highlighted by the survey results published today.”

Steve Hay, Illegal Tobacco Programme Manager for ASH Wales

ASH Wales will be launching the report on at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on September 17th on the eve of their international conference on Tackling Health Inequalities through Tobacco Control.

Notes:

  • NEMS Market Research conducted the survey with 2,547 telephone and face-to-face interviews across each of the 22 local authorities in Wales.
  • The cheap tobacco market in Wales accounts for 19% of tobacco consumption, with 15% being illicit tobacco and 4% duty free.
  • Almost half (45%) of smokers have been offered illegal tobacco to buy.
  • A quarter of smokers buy illegal tobacco and this makes up an average of 42% of their total consumption.
  • Where people buy illegal tobacco:
    • Private address – 52%
    • Pub/club – 45%
    • Shops – 19%
    • Street sellers – 16%
  • 59% buy illegal tobacco at least once a month with only 9% buying once a year.
  • The average price of 20 illegal cigarettes is £4.
  • 53% agree strongly that illegal tobacco brings crime into their community and 43% agree strongly that it encourages gangs and anti-social behaviour.
  • 70% of buyers agree strongly that illegal tobacco makes it possible to smoke when they couldn’t otherwise afford it.
  • ASH Wales is the only voluntary organisation in Wales with the sole task of tackling the ill health caused by tobacco use. Our main aim is to achieve a reduction in, and eventual elimination of, the health problems associated with tobacco use.

Ending Smoking in Cars with Children a Step Closer

ASH Wales welcomes the announcement today of the consultation on banning smoking in cars with children under 18 present.

There is widespread public support for a ban on smoking in cars with children, with 4 out of 5 Welsh adults (79%) now wanting to see legislation introduced, according to a YouGov survey for ASH Wales in 2014.

While ASH Wales also welcomes the report that the number of children being exposed to smoking in private vehicles has declined, there is still more to be done. Evidence from Canada has shown that countries with a ban have seen a steeper decline in children’s exposure to secondhand smoke in vehicles than countries running education campaigns alone.

“We welcome the decision by the Welsh Government to release a consultation on the issue of smoking in cars with children. Concentrations of tobacco smoke inside a car can reach dangerous levels very quickly. We welcome the findings that children’s exposure to secondhand smoke has reduced but there is more to be done. The time has come for a ban to be introduced to prevent any further harm to children in Wales.”

Elen de Lacy, Chief Executive of ASH Wales

ASH Wales Welcomes Standard Pack Regulations

Action on Smoking and Health Wales has welcomed the start of the consultation on standardised packaging for cigarettes and tobacco. The UK Department of Health today published the draft regulations which will lead to the introduction of standardised packaging across the UK in May 2016. The standard packs proposed will include health warnings and graphic images showing the harm caused by smoking.

In a recent ASH Wales Roadshow young people were shown some examples of the cigarette packets currently on sale. Amongst the comments were: “It looks like chewing gum!”; “It looks like soap!”; “It looks like it’s got Lego in it!” and “They are lush, I’m going to ask my Dad to buy me them!”

“It’s high time that we got rid of these cigarette packs that are deliberately designed to be attractive to children. We know that 14,500 11-15 year olds in Wales take up smoking every year. We must do everything we can to protect our children from the harm caused by tobacco.”

Elen de Lacy, Chief Executive of ASH Wales

A poll by YouGov for ASH Wales in March 2014 indicated that 66% of adults in Wales support or strongly support standard packaging.