On Wednesday 13 March, young students got creative to highlight the 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day and shared their views on the prospect of a future smokefree generation as part of Greater Manchester’s ‘What Will You Miss’ campaign.
Year 10 and 12 health students from University Collegiate School in Bolton created their own radio adverts with the help of Hits Radio to emphasise the harms of smoking and the rising trend of youth vaping.
Students were shown the What Will You Miss TV advert during the workshop. The advert’s powerful message for Greater Manchester residents highlights that up to two in three smokers will die too soon unless they quit smoking. This provided the students with a foundation to work on for their own ideas.
Presented by the Make Smoking History team at NHS Greater Manchester, the workshop attracted prominent health leaders from the city-region, including Suzanne Gilman, Assistant Director of Public Health at Bolton Council, Mathew Lewis, Head of Stop Smoking Service at ABL Health Bolton, and Jane Coyne, Programme Lead for Treating Tobacco Dependency for NHS Greater Manchester. Mohammed Ayub, Mayor of Bolton, was also in attendance to meet the students and hear their views on smoking.
Make smoking history campaign
The workshop is part of a wider community engagement programme being delivered across Greater Manchester as part of the Make Smoking History campaign. Workshops are also taking place in Bury, Salford and Wigan, with the aim of working with young people and encouraging them to talk about the harms of smoking.
Students were separated into four groups, half of them were tasked with delivering a radio advert targeting long-term entrenched smokers and the other half focused on getting young people to ‘stop the start’ of smoking and tackle youth vaping. Supported by Hits Radio presenter Mike Toolan, pupils created a range of emotive and thought-provoking messages with one group opting to voice their advert using rap. All the adverts recorded across the four workshops will be available to listen to on Hits Radio’s website in due course.
This event, as well as highlighting the 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day, showcased the collaboration between the NHS, community, and local governments, capturing their continued dedication to driving real behaviour change and creating a healthier, smokefree city region for everyone.
