The Ardoyne/Shankill Health Partnership secured a major award on Friday 24th September at The Europa Hotel, hosted by The Northern Ireland Medical Review.

The project won The Smoking Cessation Project of the Year at The 2004 Northern Ireland Healthcare Awards. They are the only awards judged by Northern Ireland Doctors and they reward excellence and quality in Healthcare. It was the first year of The Smoking Cessation Award, which was jointly won alongside Craigavon Hospital.

The project has managed to work with 60 smokers in Ardoyne and Shankill communities with 24 people giving up after four weeks from a four week quit date, boasting a 40% quit rate success.

the project which started in March 2003, funded by The Big Lottery Fund under the Healthy Living Centres Initiative, has delivered a range of innovative health programmes that attempt to address health inequalities locally. The Smoking Cessation project is an excellent programme in seeking to reduce inequalities in health as the communities have a smoking rate of 70% when the national average is 26-29%.

Health Living Project Coordinator Una McRoberts said ‘It gives a boost for Ardoyne, to The Healthy Living Project and it is a positive piece of news.’ Community Health Development Worker Darren Gowdy was delighted with the award and followed ‘This is excellent for both me personally, but more importantly for The Ardoyne/Shankill Health Partnership and for both communities,’ he said. ‘We were nominated for the award by Najla Loughlin from Niquitin CQ and then had to submit an application after which we were shortlisted for interview and the final three nominees. Apparently the award had the most number of applications ever received for any Healthcare award, which also adds to the success. This is a major achievement for Healthy Living Centres as a whole and creates great PR for this project.

Smoking is the major cause of preventable ill health and death. The best thing that a smoker can do for their health is to quit. Smokers can use smoking cessation service, which provides preparation and advice on how to go about quitting as well as group support.

The project was awarded a crystal plague, framed certificate and £500 to reinvest back into the project. The project recognised that smoking is the main public health issue and that it effects health in many ways. Not only does it effect smokers, but it also effects the health of non-smokers in the form of passive smoking. The cost of smoking is also a major issue as it directly effects inequalities as people who smoke have less money to spend on other things that make them happy and healthy, such as healthy food and treats etc.

A new Stop Smoking Group will be starting on Thursday 7th October at 7p.m. in Ardoyne Community Healthcare Centre. If you would like to enquire about the project or any other health programmes you can contact The Healthy Living Project on 90 756638.