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Sheffield schoolboy Mahmud wins Smokefree Sheffield poster competition.
As part of the Smokefree Homes campaign, Smokefree Sheffield ran a poster design competition for local children
As part of the Smokefree Homes campaign, Smokefree Sheffield ran a competition inviting local children to design a poster to inspire adults to make their home a completely smokefree space.
Primary schools across Sheffield took part in the competition, which saw 7 year-old Mahmud Ramadan taking the honour of best poster. His win was celebrated at a special assembly hosted by Councillor Mary Lea at the boy’s school, Pye Bank C of E School in Burngrave.
“It’s been extremely positive to see children sending us their messages about why they want to live in a smokefree home and what it means for them. It was incredibly hard to pick just one winner, but Mahmud’s creative drawing really stood out.
By educating children from a young age about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke, we are creating an informed generation who can help to support their families to go smokefree and remain smokefree for good. It’s encouraging to know that Mahmud wants to hang his picture up at home.”
– Councillor Mary Lea
The competition was part of a wider campaign to support parents to go smokefree at home to protect their family from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
“It has been great to raise awareness of the smokefree homes campaign in our school and our children are more aware of the affect that being around smoke can have on their health. We are so proud of all of the children who took part in the competition and so pleased that Mahmud’s design was chosen as the winner.”
– Emily Taylor, Y1-2 Phase Leader at Pye Bank Church of England Primary School
As part of the wider campaign a leaflet was created to educate parents and their families on the risks that secondhand smoke pose in the household, whilst also offering support in going completely smokefree at home.
The leaflet also highlights how unsuccessful some harm reduction approaches are, such as smoking in another room with the door closed or opening a window in minimising a Childs level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Aiming to prove to families that the only effective way to safeguard children from second hand smoke is to make the home unconditionally smokefree.
“Through the leaflet we want to encourage parents to commit to making their home smokefree. We have provided a space for children to draw their own smokefree home poster which parents can display at home as on-going motivation.”
– Greg Fell, Director of Public Health at Sheffield City Council
Children are specifically vulnerable to the dangers of secondhand smoke and although the health effects of secondhand smoking are widely reported, and public knowledge of the risk is high, it is estimated that over 2 million children in the UK are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in the household.
Children who are unprotected from the thousands of chemicals found in secondhand smoke have a much larger risk of developing serious health conditions including meningitis, asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis. This is due to children breathing faster which allows more smoke to be inhaled, whilst also having less developed airways, lungs and immune systems.
“We want to help families understand the impact that smoking and second-hand smoke has on children and encourage them to quit using the great range of stop smoking services they have access to in our city as well as support and advice on how to make the home smokefree.”
– Greg Fell, Director of Public Health at Sheffield City Council
Smokefree Sheffield would like to thank all that participated in the competition and are pleased in their efforts and ambitions to achieve a smokefree generation in Sheffield by 2025.
There is lots of help and support available in Sheffield for those who want to stop smoking or go smokefree in the home, find the right support for you.
If you are struggling to keep your home smokefree, you can have a go with our commitment card.