Smoke Free Herefordshire is almost here!
Smoking will be banned in public and work spaces from 1 July 2007 onwards bringing England into line with the rest of the UK.
This will affect Voluntary and Community Groups in as much as all premises that are considered workplaces or have public access will have to enforce the ban and put up 'No Smoking' signs. Groups that meet in homes will not be affected unless someone is attending as part of their regular employment, in which case we are asked to respect the no-smoking ban.
The reason for the ban is the strong links between smoking and chronic health complaints and life threatening heart attacks, strokes and increased danger of developing blood clots.
The Smoke-free Herefordshire Partnership has been preparing for this new law for the past year. This Partnership will take on new health promotion responsibilites when the Smoking ban is in place. The VSA Co-ordinator, Susan Black, attended their latest meeting on 18 April 2007. You can read the minutes of this meeting below. Also attached is some information from NICE about how employers can help their employees quit smoking.
