Galway CYPSC and Galway Healthy City are leading a new campaign aimed at creating smoke free environments for children and young people in Galway City and County.
The ‘Not Around Us / Coinnigh Uainn É’ initiative aims to stop children from regarding smoking as a normal behaviour by moving smoking away from those places where children and young people are likely to be.
Collaboration is central to the implementation of Not Around Us / Coinnigh Uainn É and a range of local stakeholders including the HSE, Healthy Galway County, Galway City Council, Galway County Council, Galway City Comhairle na nÓg, Youth Work Ireland Galway, Galway Childcare Committee, Galway City Partnership, Croí, and Galway Public Libraries are actively supporting the campaign.
Morgan Mee, Co-ordinator of Galway CYPSC, is asking organisations across Galway to help children and young people grow-up without seeing smoking as a normal behaviour by adopting the Not Around Us / Coinnigh Uainn É charter and displaying the signage.
"By joining this campaign, services can help to move smoking away from the places where children and young people are likely to be. We are not asking people to quit smoking; we are just asking them to be mindful of where they smoke."
Deirdre Bermingham, Co-ordinator of Galway City Comhairle na nÓg told CYPSC.IE that “Galway City Comhairle na nÓg Committee, as the representative voice of young people in Galway City, are pleased to support this campaign to help create smoke free environments for young people."
The initiative, which is funded through the Healthy Ireland Fund, supports the implementation of the national Tobacco Free Ireland policy as it seeks to denormalise smoking and protect children and young people. In positive support of this local health collaboration Minister Frank Feighan said: “I would like to congratulate all the partners working together in Galway to help bring about tobacco free spaces for all to enjoy. Tobacco Free Ireland has a clear goal to denormalise smoking for the next generation of children which supports the overall vision of Healthy Ireland"
"We know children model adult behaviour, so this Tobacco Free initiative will help ensure the children of Galway see and experience a positive healthy environment as their norm."
Evelyn Fanning, from HSE Health Promotion and Improvement said that “the HSE is delighted to support the Not Around Us / Coinnigh Uainn É initiative as an important part of promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
"Creating smoke free environments enables children to grow up seeing and experiencing a positive healthy environment as a normal part of their everyday life. The initiative also helps to raise awareness of the risks of smoking and second-hand smoke and encourages smokers to think about quitting and access the supports available."
Not Around Us / Coinnigh Uainn É messages and signage will be made available free of charge to interested not-for-profit groups or organisations, schools, and early years services. Interested services and organisations should go to the Galway CYPSC webpage or to healthygalwaycity.ie/tobacco-free to get more information and to download the Expression of Interest form.
For information and support to quit smoking, visit QUIT.ie or contact QUIT Smoking West by phone 091 737262 or email quitsmoking.west@hse.ie.
Watch the Not Around Us video here:
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