Tobacco Free Futures newsletter

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser . Unsubscribe here

March 2014

TFF tour the NW to educate young people about the tobacco industry and make them aware #tobaccoKILLS1in2

We have been travelling across the North West delivering a dramatic street performance to educate young people about tobacco industry tactics and to raise awareness that tobacco kills 1 in 2 of all long term smokers.

The performances in Carlisle, Warrington, Widnes, Manchester and Preston featured 12 dancers and a street poet who delivered a powerful anti-tobacco rap titled ‘Last Man Standing’. The dance piece finished with a sinister twist where half the performers ‘died’ during the piece, falling to the ground and highlighted the stark fact that half of all long-term smokers will die from their addiction.

It definitely caused a shock amongst the public and we received a very positive response, with many local people sharing their touching personal stories. Local and regional media covered each event helping us reach thousands more people across the NW.

Each performance was filmed and has now been made into a viral which you can watch here. This will be promoted through social media in the NW as part of a 60 second viral campaign to increase awareness. Please share the viral using the hashtag #tobaccoKILLS1in2.

International Urban Health Conference in Manchester

The 11th International Urban Health Conference was held in the UK for the first time last week. The Manchester based conference saw us perform our anti-tobacco industry performance on stage at the closing plenary on day one which was a great surprise for delegates, alongside presentations in three workshops and having a stand. For more information and extracts from the conference read more here.

No Smoking Day 2014

We hope you all enjoyed No Smoking Day 2014. There were many events in the NW that took place which was great to see. Find out more here.

Financial incentives are an effective way to encourage healthier lifestyles

Researchers from Newcastle University have found that people are more likely to quit smoking and make other healthy lifestyle choices if they are offered small financial incentives, of as little as £3. This supports the successes TFF has had with the smoking in pregnancy initiative in the North West and reinforces the need for these financial incentives. Read more here.

Passive smoking causes irreversible damage to kids

Exposure to secondhand smoke in childhood causes irreversible damage to children's arteries, increasing their risk of heart attacks or strokes when they grow up, according to a recently published study. Read more here.

Smoking breaks at work cost British businesses £8.4bn/year

A study has found one in five workers who smoke spend about 4.3 minutes of each working hour on a smoking break. Read more here.

Merseyside man jailed for 53 months for smuggling counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes into the UK

A man from Merseyside has been jailed for smuggling counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes into the UK. HMRC said the find was worth £1.1m in evaded tax. Read more here.

Report suggests e-cigs ‘encourage teenagers to smoke’

Researchers at the Centre for Tobacco Research and Education discovered that over a period of 12 months the number of teenagers using e-cigarettes more than doubled and those using normal cigarettes increased by almost half. Read more here.

Smokers warned they face an increased risk of blindness

You may associate smoking with lung cancer, respiratory disease and heart problems but did you know it has a major effect on eye health? Read more here.

Read Andrea's latest blog

Please read our Chief Executive's latest blog post entitled 'Fighting back against the industry that kills 1 in 2' here.

Editor's note

Hi and welcome to your March eNews.

We have had a brilliant month delivering our anti-tobacco industry performances across the North West. It has been great to speak to members of the public, hear their stories and be reminded of why we do what we do. Young people were truly shocked that #tobaccoKILLS1in2 long-term smokers and this visibly changed many of their attitudes towards smoking which is a great success.

Thank you to everyone who helped us arrange the events, supported us on the day and encouraged people to come and watch. Please find the time to watch our viral and share through your social media channels using the hashtag #tobaccoKILLS1in2.

Ian White, Project Manager: Communications and Marketing