John Barnes, Ian Wright
and the Premier League call for Football Fans to Kick it Together by
joining Smokefree United
Today, football
legends John Barnes, Ian Wright, Gianfranco Zola and teams from
the Premier League have teamed up with the NHS to launch Smokefree
United, a virtual club of quitters that provides coaching and
support to help football fans and players to stop smoking.
In addition to quitting advice, footballers and fans who sign up
for Smokefree United will receive motivational emails from
football hero Ian Wright encouraging them to stop smoking, as well
as the chance to win money-can’t- buy prizes such as the chance to
play a game on the pitch of the team they support.
According to new research conducted on behalf of the NHS Stop
Smoking Service, 41 per cent of male smokers in England play
football and 82 per cent of them are concerned about the effect
smoking has on their performance and want to quit.[1]
Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said:
“Stopping smoking is one of the most important steps you can take
to improve your game, your fitness and overall health. Quitting
smoking is tough, but by joining Smokefree United you'll
get the motivation and support you need to stop for
good."
Footballers who smoke are worried they are letting their side
down with more than half (56%) admitting that their smoking
affects the teams’ overall performance. The majority of smokers
(73%) admit they can’t keep going for the full 90 minutes of a
match and three quarters (75%) admit that non-smokers have better
endurance on the pitch than them.
The effects of smoking aren’t just felt in the dying minutes of a
game, three-quarters of smokers (72%) say that they notice the
effect of their smoking before half time and nearly half (46%) say
they notice it within the first 10 minutes on the pitch. A further
quarter (25%) of football players who smoke are embarrassed in
front of their team mates due to their wheezing.
With medical research[2] showing that
smokers are able to extend the amount of time they can exercise
only a week after quitting, Smokefree United and the Premier
League are keen to highlight that quitters could show an
improvement in their performance at their next game.
John Barnes said:
“I’d urge all football fans and players who have thought about
quitting to sign for Smokefree United. Quitting smoking will have
a huge impact on your game and you’ll immediately become more
competitive because your cardiovascular fitness will improve,
increasing the amount of time you’ll be able to spend on the pitch.”
Kris Serjent, local Stop Smoking Adviser from Hampshire local
Stop Smoking Services said:
“Quitting as a team is an excellent way to stop smoking as you’re
there to motivate each other when the going gets tough, but also
there to celebrate the success of staying smokefree. Signing up to
Smokefree United will help you get more out of your game.”
Football fans in Portsmouth have already seen the benefits of
quitting and have set up their own smokefree team, which is going
from strength to strength.
AFC Smokefree team member Craig Sadler, 37, married with three
children said; “Playing football with AFC Smokefree has been a
great way to stay off the cigarettes, boost my fitness and get
support from the team. My children have a lot of energy and when I
was smoking it was getting to the point where I couldn’t keep up
with them – now I can, and we’ve all noticed the difference.”
For help quitting, visit the Smokefree United
website at nhs.uk/smokefreeunited or call the NHS Stop Smoking
Helpline on 0800 917 0492
[1] All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from The Survey
Shop. Total sample size was 1000 male adult smokers in England.
Fieldwork was undertaken between the 4 and 10 September 2009. The
survey was conducted online and the data is representative of
smokers aged 18+ in England.[2] McHenry PL, Faris JV, Jordan JW,
Morris SN. (1977). Comparative study of cardiovascular function
and ventricular premature complexes in smokers and nonsmokers
during maximal treadmill exercise. American Journal of Cardiology.
39(4):493-8.
Notes to Editors
For further information please contact the Department of Health
press office on 020 72105221 1. John Barnes will be available for
interview on 7 and 8 October 2009 2. Kris Serjent, local Stop
Smoking Adviser from Hampshire local Stop Smoking Services will be
available for interview on 7 and 8 October. 3. Local NHS Stop
Smoking Advisers available for interview on request 4. The
following members of AFC Portsmouth are also available for
interview on 7 and 8 October 2009 · Brian Saunders, 37, a fireman
Brian, who is married with two children, has tried to stop smoking
many times, but found himself wanting to smoke when he went out
for drinks with friends. He quit smoking in March 2009 having
smoking since he was 21. As a fireman Brian has seen at first hand
the damage smoking can do to homes, sometimes taking lives. This
has helped him realise that smoking just wasn’t worth it. He also
acknowledges that having two young children was a big motivator –
he wanted to live longer for his kids, and going smokefree will
help that happen. · Craig Holmes, 26, warehouse assistant Craig
started smoking when he worked in a pub. He was never a heavy
smoker, but when his new born child arrived 8 weeks ago he wished
to quit for good while trying to boost his fitness. The local NHS
Stop Smoking Service got Craig going with tailored advice, a
nicotine inhalator and a carbon monoxide test. Looking at the
charts after the test made him realise the damage he was doing to
his body. · Brendan Bone, 37, works in recruitment Brendon started
smoking when he was around 18 or 19 when socialising with friends
at his local pub. Although he was never a heavy smoker because of
his asthma, he continued to enjoy smoking the occasional
cigarette, when socialising with friends, for almost 20 years. ·
Paul Scutt, 18, student Paul started smoking at 11 as it was the
‘cool’ thing to do in his friendship group at the time. Since then
Chris has been a regular smoker. Although he tried to quit once
before, he didn’t succeed in becoming smokefree until he visited
his local NHS Stop Smoking service. He has now been smokefree
since August 2009 and puts much of his success down to Kris – his
NHS Stop Smoking Adviser. · Craig Sadler, 37, fireman Craig Sadler
is a Watch Manager with the local Fire service who started smoking
on and off aged around 17. He had made several unsuccessful
attempts at quitting before going smokefree for good in 2007. When
he started to notice that he could no longer keep up with his six
year old daughter when playing in the park the damage he was doing
to his body really hit home. This has proved to be the ultimate
motivation for Brendon so far. He has been smokefree since the 2nd
of February 2009 and intends to keep it that way for the sake of
his and his daughter’s happiness Fans of Smokefree United
Gianfranco Zola and the West Ham United Squad: “We’re pleased to
be supporting Smokefree United and call on smokers to sign up and
get help to quit. There’s plenty of online support to help you
kick smoking and you’ll see an improvement in your game within a
week.” Premier League Head of Community Development Simon Morgan:
“The Premier League is right behind Smokefree United. We are fully
committed to improving the quality of thousands of people’s lives
through the many health initiatives that our clubs run. For
example, our Premier League Health project sees clubs all over the
country tackle specific health issues that their male fans face.
“Smokefree United provides a new and exciting way of highlighting
the benefits of going smokefree to football fans, while giving
them the ongoing support needed to successfully quit smoking.”
Premier League Clubs The following Premier League clubs are
supporting Smokefree United, which complements much of the work
they are already doing to improve the health of their fans:
Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur Foundation (THF) is currently
delivering a number of health related programmes. One of these
programmes, 'Healthy Family', is an outreach
education intervention which focuses on obesity, oral health and
physical activity. As part of their overall health offer THF have
also sent a number of their coaches on smoking cessation training
courses, allowing them to help individuals from both the
'Healthy Family' and other health related
programmes stop smoking. Under the umbrella of 'Healthy
Family' an additional programme, 'Premier
Health' focuses on men’s health and is aimed at helping
to tackle a number of key areas within men’s health such as
smoking and obesity. Everton Everton’s Premier Health scheme aims
to motivate and inspire hard to reach males, in Liverpool, to make
positive, healthy lifestyle choices. Premier Health has six key
health themes: smoking cessation, cancer, substance and alcohol
misuse, sexual health, obesity and CVD and mental health. They
provide one-to-one mentoring support and take advantage of match
day environments at Goodison Park to publicise pertinent men’s
health issues. Sunderland Sunderland AFC Foundation’s ‘Fit for
Football’ scheme uses football coaching to deliver active sessions
aimed at helping people give up smoking, deal with health
inequalities and providing positive messages about healthy eating
and general well-being. They also help educate families about the
dangers of smoking, having a healthy diet, importance of exercise
and how to improve self esteem and confidence through their
‘Family Learning through Football Fitness’ programme. HullCity
Hull City are launching a men’s health programme in October aimed
at improving the health and wellbeing of men aged 18-39. They aim
to reduce the number of men smoking through smoking cessation
seminars, and guidance will be given to those determined to stop,
with tailored services for more difficult cases. Portsmouth
Portsmouth recently launched a campaign to educate men about
cancer, as part of a new initiative run by the Football
Foundation. The campaign will focus on the three main types of
cancer – lung, bowel and prostate - the first two of which are
most commonly associated with smoking. Portsmouth will have nurses
offering health checks and advice at its matches, and are also
starting up their own ‘Premier Health’ scheme to help raise
awareness of men’s health issues through its various community
partnerships. Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers are involved in
two men’s health initiatives that incorporate help and advice to
stop smoking. The first is the new ‘Ahead of the game’ campaign
which aims to raise the awareness of, amongst others, lung cancer,
through the power of football. They also take part in the ‘Premier
Health’ initiative which aims to help improve the state of men’s
health by encouraging healthy lifestyles and offering advice on
quitting smoking. Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers’ Football in
the Community is launching a new Premier League Health project,
which will run for three years and specifically aims to help local
men lead more fit and healthy lifestyles. Men will be given advice
on the dangers of smoking and a poor diet and on what help is
available to kick the habit and improve their diet. Fulham Fulham
Football Club Foundation will be targeting men in the Lambeth area
as part of their Premier Health project. They hope to use football
as a mental well-being enhancement tool and increase access to
statutory health care. They will address three main areas of
concern through issue based workshops: substance misuse, including
smoking; nutrition and sexual health. Liverpool Liverpool Football
Club manages extensive healthy living programmes: Healthy Stadia
(focussing on fans, visitors and employees), European Healthy
Stadia (a network of 150 venues sharing good practice), Truth 4
Youth assemblies, which include health messages, and the Action 4
Healthprogramme which includes the Premier League Men's
Health and Extra Time programmes. As well as health promotion, the
latter three programmes include one-to-one health checks which are
directly linked to pathways to assist people to make lifestyle
changes, including smoking cessation. There are also four health
information kiosks in community centres. LFC works closely with
partners in the Liverpool Primary Care Trust, Liverpool City
Council, Premier League, Heart of Mersey and local community
groups to ensure that the most appropriate help is on offer. What
is Smokefree United? Smokefree United is a virtual club of
quitters – supported by John Barnes, Ian Wright and the Premier
League - that provides coaching and support to help football fans
and players to stop smoking. Quitters signing up will receive
regular weekly contact over a four week period via supportive
emails from Ian Wright, entry into competitions to win
money-can’t-buy prizes, and the chance to send the club you
support to the top of the Smokefree League. Why is the Department
of Health running Smokefree United? The NHS Smokefree team
understands that different messages and triggers will motivate
different people to make a quit attempt. By discussing the many
benefits of quitting within a football context we want to let
football fans and players know that if they stop smoking they’ll
get more out of their game – both on the pitch and by being able
to spend more time with their family. · The majority of male
smokers (70%) would like to quit smoking · Over 80 per cent of
male smokers are football fans What happens when you go Smokefree
– benefits timeline 20 minutes Blood pressure and pulse rate
return to normal 8 hours Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in
blood reduce by half, oxygen levels return to normal 24 hours
Carbon monoxide will be eliminated from the body. Lungs start to
clear out mucus and other smoking debris 48 hours There is no
nicotine in the body. Ability to taste and smell is greatly
improved 72 hours Breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin
to relax and energy levels increase 2-12 weeks Your circulation
improves 3-9 months Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems
improve as lung function increases by up to 10% 5 years Risk of
heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker 10 years Risk of
lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack
falls to the same as someone who has never smoked 5. NHS Smokefree
factsheet: Quitting · Three-quarters of smokers (74%) say they
would like to quit if they could. Key statistics include:· 58% of
smokers say that they intend to quit in the next 12 months· 86% of
smokers cite at least one health reason for why they want to quit·
60% of current smokers have made a series attempt to quit in the
past five years· 53% of smokers have sought some kind of help or
advice for quitting smoking· 87% of people who have attempted to
stop smoking in the last year would like to stop smoking · Heavy
smokers are more likely to have tried to stop smoking (87%) · 55
%of smokers said that someone had asked them to stop smoking -
this tended to be a partner (22%), son or daughter (17%) or a
parent (16%)· Women were more likely than men to say that their
children were asking them to quit (22% and 13% respectively)· Only
7% of smokers who had previously managed to stop smoking, had quit
for two years or more, while 72% had only managed to quit for six
months or less6. Telephone numbers for NHS Stop Smoking Support:•
NHS Smoking Helpline (0800 169 0 169) • NHS Pregnancy Smoking
Helpline (0800 169 9 169)• NHS Asian Tobacco Helpline• Urdu - 0800
169 0 881 • Punjabi - 0800 169 0 882 • Hindi - 0800 169 0 883 •
Gujarati - 0800 169 0 884 • Bengali - 0800 169 0 885 7. NHS
Smokefree factsheet: Top 10 tips for a successful quit
attemptResearch shows smokers are up to four times more likely to
stop smoking successfully if they get support from their local NHS
Stop Smoking Service and Nicotine Replacement Therapy, compared
with relying on willpower alone.The NHS Smokefree campaign
suggests the following top ten tips to help smokers on their path
to become smokefree: 1. Order a free DVD from 0800 169 0 169 to
find out about the full range of NHS support available to help you
quit.2. Get support from trained NHS advisers who can help you to
understand your addiction and how to beat it.3. Identify your
smoking triggers and plan ahead. Try the Addiction Test at
www.nhs.uk/smokefree. 4. Use nicotine replacement products or
other stop smoking medicines to cope with the withdrawal symptoms.
These are available on prescription from the NHS.5. Sign up for
free text and email alerts from the Together Programme with
motivational tips and advice to keep you on track.6. Avoid
situations where you might be tempted to smoke again. Plan ahead
to cope with the hard times.7. Note how much cash you’re saving.
Work out how long it will take you to save for your dream purchase
by using the calculator on www.nhs.uk/smokefree. 8. Use a carbon
monoxide monitor to see for yourself how quickly your body
recovers once you stop smoking. Local NHS Stop Smoking Services
offer carbon monoxide monitoring as part of their stop smoking
programmes.9. Chuck out your ashtrays, matches and lighters and
anything else you needed to smoke. Put potpourri where your
ashtrays used to be – your home will smell fresher in no time at
all. But most importantly, take it one day at a time and reward
yourself every day
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk