Parents pledge to have smoke free homes

A group of parents whose children attend the Eastwood Nursery School Centre for Children and Families in Roehampton are spearheading council efforts to get the borough’s homes smokefree.

For the past year the council’s public health team has been working with children’s centres across Wandsworth to encourage parents and carers to take a Smokefree Homes Pledge – which means children in their home will not be subjected to anybody’s second hand tobacco smoke.

Eastwood had the most pledges by far – with 78 homes now smokefree.

Three of the mums, Deborah Foot, Nicola Brisley (both pictured left) and Wendy Peddar, have taken the scheme to the next step and are now Parent Champions – trained to help and support other parents and carers to take the smokefree homes pledge.

There is a new on-site stop smoking drop-in clinic at the centre staffed by the council’s stop smoking team and one of the newly-qualified Parent Champions. Other outreach clinics are planned for other locations in Roehampton.

Cllr Jim Maddan, cabinet member for health, said:

“This project typifies the work that Eastwood has been doing here in Roehampton to make people’s lives better. This is giving people the opportunity to give up smoking and improve the health of their family.”

Director of public health for Wandsworth, Houda Al-Sharifi, said:
“We are all extremely impressed by the hard work and dedication of these parents and carers that have taken the pledge, and would like to thank Eastwood’s Headteacher, Liz Rook, for all the support she has given to this project.

“We know that passive smoking is harmful to children. It’s great if mums and dads give up cigarettes, but pledging to go smokefree is even better, because it means nobody will be smoking around your children in their own home.”

Find out more about help to stop smoking in Wandsworth at www.wandworth.gov.uk/smoking.

August 8, 2013