04 Jan Fans quit smoking at Everton FC through Smokefree Squad
Everton Football Club and its official charity, Everton in the Community, kicked off 2016 with a new Smokefree Squad campaign which is offering friendly support to any fans or members of the local community wanting to quit smoking. The campaign launched at Everton’s first home match of 2016 against Tottenham Hotspur on 4th January as thousands of peopled pledge to stop smoking in the New Year. Research suggests that two-third of smokers want to stop smoking, and yet quitting for good still proves difficult for many.
To help with this, Healthy Stadia has trained over 30 of Everton’s matchday stewards, volunteers and community coaches in stop smoking brief interventions. The ‘Smokefree Squad’ are on hand at Everton’s home fixtures, and at community settings on non-matchdays, to explain the health and financial benefits of stopping smoking, as well as the advantages of using Local Stop Smoking Services.
In addition to brief intervention training, the Smokefree Squad have been equipped with social marketing materials such as player cards explaining the dangers of second-hand smoke and effects on children, whilst monitoring and qualitative feedback is captured through bespoke evaluation diaries carried by all members of the Squad.
Backing the campaign is Everton captain Phil Jagielka who said: “I fully support the Smokefree Squad as they are providing vital information for people who may have thought about quitting smoking but have not known where to go for advice.”
The campaign has already seen fans start to refer into local stop smoking services, and is set to run until the end of March 2016. Everton’s Smokefree Squad campaign has been funded by Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, with support from Everton in the Community and Healthy Stadia.
To find out more about running a Smokefree Squad campaign with your club click here
