The Alternative School at Spartans Community Football Academy are proud to be one of nine Scottish organisations recognised this week in an award ceremony for their work in support of Scotland’s Charter for a Tobacco-free Generation.
They joined a range of organisations who were commended on the outstanding contributions they have been making to reduce the harm caused by tobacco in their communities.
The Charter for a Tobacco-free Generation is an initiative from health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Scotland to help deliver a tobacco-free generation of Scots by 2034. The Charter has six key principles that encourage organisations to pledge how they can contribute to the tobacco-free goal.
The Alternative School at Spartans Community Football Academy has embraced smoking prevention activities and supports students who smoke to consider cutting down or quitting. Through support from the Lothian Schools tobacco-free schools project they were able to apply for small grant funding and access free resources, support and expert advice from ASH Scotland and NHS Lothian.
In a young person led approach, students at the Alternative School decided to use the funding to incentivise all students to engage with the smoke free project. Students could earn points each week for encouraging a peer not to smoke during the school day, engaging in a smoking prevention activity e.g. video, research or class activity, having a discussion with a member of staff about smoking or choosing to miss a smoking break or to go longer between cigarettes.
Presenting the award on Thursday, Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland, said: “Scotland has a vision of putting smoking out of fashion for the next generation, with fewer than 5% of the population still smoking by 2034. The Charter is proving an effective way to align organisations in the fight against tobacco and particularly the harmful effects it has on children and young people.
“I’m delighted to present Spartans Community Football Academy’s Alternative School with a Charter Award to recognise their significant positive contributions in support of the Charter principles. Each step an organisation takes furthers Scotland’s progress towards a generation free from tobacco.”
Emma Easton, the school’s manager said: “I am really proud of how hard the pupils worked to achieve this award and how creative they were in their solutions . We now we have a school smoke-free policy that we are all invested in.”
Photos: Sandra Lynch (maths teacher) and Nadia Alonzi (cookery teacher)
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