Leaders in Swindon renew their commitment to local smoke-free pledges

Organisations from across Swindon have re-affirmed their commitment to tackling health inequalities and reducing smoking rates for those at greater risk from tobacco addiction by re-signing pledges, including The Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control and The NHS Smokefree Pledge. The town’s new Tobacco Control Strategy, which looks to build a smoke-free Swindon where everyone lives a long and healthy life, has also recently been launched.

Smoking kills around four people a week in Swindon and for every person that dies, another 20 are living with a smoking-related illness. At an event held at the STEAM Museum in September, local leaders committed to a renewed strategy which, among other things, seeks to:

• Protect children and prevent young people from taking up smoking and vaping
• Support a smoke-free environment
• Communicate hope and increase quit attempts
• Reduce the availability and access to illegal tobacco and illegal nicotine vaping products in the community

It also sets ambitious targets to reduce smoking, including reducing the prevalence of smoking in the adult population to 5 per cent by 2028, reducing the prevalence of smoking in routine and manual workers to below 10 per cent and reducing the prevalence of smoking in those with a serious mental illness to below 20 per cent.

The Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control was first signed in 2013 and Councillor Jim Robbins, the Leader of Swindon Borough Council, Sam Mowbray, the Council’s Chief Executive, and Professor Steve Maddern, Director of Public Health, all re-signed the Declaration for Swindon. Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive for Great Western Hospital in Swindon, also attended to re-sign the NHS Smokefree Pledge, which was first signed back in 2018.

Councillor Jim Grant, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Joint Working and Communities said: “We recognise that smoking is not a choice - it is an addiction but we’re committing to meaningful change, through action at all levels of the system, to create hope and promote a smoke-free environment that supports people to quit for good.

“Tobacco addiction plunges nearly 4,000 households across Swindon into poverty, impacting on 3,500 children. For the average person who smokes, tobacco addiction will cost nearly £2,000 a year, with national data suggesting the most vulnerable communities spend five times more of their weekly household budget on smoking. With the ongoing cost of living crisis, there has arguably never been a better time to quit smoking and support is available to help you.”

Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive of Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are committed to supporting patients and staff to quit smoking, and offer a number of internal cessation resources including Nicotine Replacement Therapy for inpatients who smoke. Our hospital site is also smokefree, with smokers signposted to local cessation support.

“I’m proud to have re-signed the Smokefree Pledge here in Swindon to show our contribution to reducing the number of local people who smoke, and ultimately improving the health outcomes for people who kick the habit.”

As part of the event, local stakeholders were encouraged to support Stoptober, a national campaign that has helped over 2.5 million people who smoke to make a quit attempt.

Residents can contact Swindon.stopsmoking@nhs.net for help from the local stop smoking service or visit Sanford House (College Street, SN1 1HE) to attend a drop-in clinic. These are held every Wednesday from 9.30am to 10.30am and 2pm to 4pm – no appointment needed.

Free advice and quitting tools are also available on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/