A STOP smoking expert who will put on pop-up information events in 2018 is expected to begin their work in the coming weeks.
Councillors on the North East Area Council, which covers Monk Bretton, Brierley, Cudworth, Royston, Shafton, Great Houghton, and Grimethorpe, provided an update on proposals for the new initiative at Barnsley Town Hall last Thursday.
A working party consisting of councillors Jeff Ennis, Malcolm Clements and Charlie Wraith was set up in the summer to oversee the first stages of the drive, which will see £30,000 of the area council’s budget set aside to recruit the specialist to work at events in the villages.
Area council manager Caroline Donovan said: “We’re expecting the person to be in place in two to three weeks’ time so it will be good news for every village in the area. I’m unsure where they will be based, but they will be working at events throughout the year.”
The move comes after the area council commissioned a report which found smoking prevalence across Barnsley is at 21.2 per cent, which equates to more than 52,000 smokers in the town.
The area council’s villages’ combined population stands at just over 45,600, with an average of 12,000 smokers - or around one in four residents - meaning it’s the borough’s worst-affected area.
It’s the latest health-related project that’s been commissioned by the area council, whose members also agreed to implement the scheme at health fairs which are being rolled out to Royston early next year after continued successes in Cudworth.
Caroline added: “Barnsley Council already commissions a stop smoking service through its healthier communities team, but there has been a recent revision of the service to focus much more on targeted interventions.
“There is an excellent opportunity to support that within the North East ward’s communities. The specialist would support work specifically in the area and aim to address the high smoking prevalence figures.
“Figures reveal that smoking prevalence in males is higher than in females in Cudworth, North East and Royston wards, with 28.7 per cent, 28.2 per cent and 25.5 per cent of males smoking in each area respectively.
“The district’s statistics are significantly higher than the Barnsley average of 21.2 per cent and the national rate of 16.9 per cent, with 18 per cent of all deaths being attributed to smoking.
“We’re keen to address that and help reduce figures.”
