Cancer Focus celebrates 25 years of Smokebusters

Smokebusters, which is celebrating its 25th birthday, is a free programme for schools which highlights the harmful effects of smoking in a fun and engaging way. It teaches children skills to help them resist peer pressure to smoke before going into secondary school and alerts them to tobacco companies’ tactics to recruit younger smokers.

Since it began in the 1988/1989 academic year, Smokebusters has gone from strength to strength. Club membership reached an all-time high last year when 30,850 children in hundreds of schools across Northern Ireland signed up.

Gerry McElwee, Head of Cancer Prevention at Cancer Focus, said: “We are very excited about the 25th anniversary of Smokebusters and I would like to thank all those schools and teachers who have shown so much support over the years.

“I am so proud of the way the club has grown and how well received it is by schools. Many of them have continued to take part through the years, helping us to spread the ‘don’t smoke’ message to each new generation, which is hugely important.

“According to the Young Person’s Behaviour and Attitude Survey 2011, almost 19% of young people aged 11-16 years have smoked tobacco, and just over 62% of those smoked when they were 13 or under. This underlines just how vital our work with children is.

“Cancer Focus now looks forward to taking Smokebusters into the future and continuing its work towards a healthier, smoke free environment for our young people.”

Stephen Keery (35), from Craigavon, was one of the first ever Smokebusters and joined when he was 11. “A lot of people in my family smoked but I hated it, so I was a very enthusiastic member,” he said.

“I used to give out leaflets and information to other pupils at school and got other Smokebuster members to pledge not to smoke. A lot of my friends were starting around that age but I did my best to put them off. I’m also a diabetic and I dread to think what kind of health problems I’d have now if I was a smoker.

“Smokebusters is excellent because it gives children the information and they can make a decision themselves, rather than just telling them what to do. I’m delighted the club is such a success.”

Teachers who would like more information please call Caroline Mulhern on 028 9068 0735, email smokebusters@cancerfocusni.org, or enrol online at www.cancerfocusni.org.