A SCHEME to reduce smoking prevalence in Barnsley’s worst-affected wards had a 67 per cent success rate in its first quarter, according to new figures.
Councillors on the North East Area Council, which covers Monk Bretton, Cudworth, Royston and North East wards, opted to approve £30,000 towards recruiting an expert to host drop-in sessions and put on events in the area’s villages.
The specialist, Sarah Sverdloff, began work last spring and the scheme’s first quarter, which ran from April to June, revealed a successful start to the project which forms part of Barnsley Council’s borough-wide Smoke Free Barnsley project.
A report said: “The first quarter’s figures are now complete and in total 164 clients who live in the North East area registered with the service.
“Sarah helped 16 clients to set a quit date and 12 of these quit, giving a rate of 75 per cent. The core service, together with the locally-commissioned service, supported 65 clients to set a quit date and 42 did so, giving a rate of 65 per cent.
“Overall in quarter one, 81 clients from the North East area set a quit date with Yorkshire Smoke Free Barnsley, either via a service provider, the core team or with Sarah. Four weeks in, 54 of these people had successfully quit. This gives a combined rate for the North East of 67 per cent, 12 per cent over target.”
Promotional work has included the project’s launch and pop-up stalls at Cudworth’s Tea in the Park gala; Lundwood Family Centre’s fun day; Brierley’s fete; Grimethorpe Family Centre’s fun day and health fairs at Priory Campus, Lundwood, and Cudworth Methodist Church. It is a free service for people who live and work in Brierley, Carlton, Cudworth, Great Houghton, Grimethorpe, Lundwood, Monk Bretton, Shafton, Smithies and Royston.
Councillors awarded funding after the area council commissioned a health report which found smoking prevalence across Barnsley was at 21.2 per cent which equates to more than 52,000 smokers in the town or more than one in five people.
Monk Bretton, Cudworth, Royston and North East wards’ combined population stands at just over 45,000 which, with an average of 12,000 smokers or around one in four residents means it’s the borough’s worst-affected area.
Smoke-free schools have been introduced as part of the work to reduce levels, which centres around making the habit invisible to children.
Coun Jim Andrews, spokesperson for public health, added: “The council is committed to achieving a smoke-free generation by 2025 and this includes reducing visible evidence of smoking.
“Evidence shows that if young people see smoking as part of everyday life they are more likely to smoke themselves so by making smoking invisible to children, we hope to vastly reduce the amount of children and young people picking up the habit.”
