Wirral | Archive | 2000 | January | 12
From the Wirral Globe, first published Wednesday 12th Jan 2000.
ELEVEN Wirral volunteers have put themselves at the heart of the country's largest ever 'stop smoking' campaign.
They are among the first to join the 'Support' initiative - part of a campaign launched in Liverpool last week by the Roy Castle International Lung Cancer Foundation.
The volunteers dumped their remaining cigarettes in a bin at Birkenhead Town hall before signing up for a six weeks programme which aims to help them kick the tobacco habit.
They will receive support from a series of weekly one-to-one or group meetings that will help each volunteer recognise their smoking habit, make a plan and set out their stall to quit the weed for good.
Specialist teams of trained advisors will be on hand to support them in the effort to find less harmful ways of occupying their time - and the Wirral Globe will also be following their progress.
And, as an added incentive, Wirral Leisure Services is to provide three months Gold membership - worth nearly £100 - to facilities across the borough to each volunteer who completes the programme.
The 'Support' programme is the first stage in a £3.3 million, three year Merseyside Health Action Zone campaign to persuade people to trash the ash - a message which has clearly not been lost on early volunteer Dean Roberts.
The 29-year-old from New Ferry says he wants to give up what is now seen as a negative habit and adds: "Anyway, it's anti-social, it stinks and it costs."
Marie Burns, aged 44, from central Birkenhead, reckons that the initiative will give her a second chance.
"I gave up for 18 weeks last year and if I had known that there was a support group about to start I think I would have kept on. Now I feel positive that I can do it."
Volunteer Tom Bingham is also upbeat. He says: "It's not the price but the habit that matters. I haven't smoked since December 31 and already I feel healthier."
And Audrey Hendy, 64, from Moreton, believes that giving up now will not only leave her feeling healthier but will give her extra money with which to enjoy herself.
"I'm on a pension now and I don't get that much. It'll perhaps pay for a holiday abroad," she told Globe.
Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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