Buckinghamshire Council launched Smokefree Sidelines in 2022. The campaign encourages local football clubs to not allow smoking or vaping at youth matches.
Seeing adults smoke, particularly parents, has a significant influence on children taking up the habit. In Buckinghamshire, the council’s public health team has worked with the local football association to prevent smoking and vaping at youth football matches as well as introducing a similar initiative targeted at local parks and playgrounds.
Setting the right example
Buckinghamshire Council launched Smokefree Sidelines in 2022. The campaign encourages local football clubs to not allow smoking or vaping at youth matches.
Advanced Public Health Practitioner Rebecca Kineen said:
It is not about targeting smokers unfairly, but more about asking smokers to be aware of their visibility to children.
The idea is to encourage smokers to refrain from smoking and vaping during the match.
“It's voluntary – we made it clear to clubs we are not asking them to police it and challenge people. We give them a pack of assets to promote that it is smokefree and of course, they can politely remind spectators. But we don’t expect them to march them away from the game. We’ve not had any reports of problems though – people respect it.”
So far 14 clubs have signed up to the scheme with talks ongoing with another three. Ms Kineen said the feedback has been incredibly positive. “It’s not just about the example it sets to children, it also seems to be improving people’s experience at matches and it has led to less litter on the sidelines too.”
A range of different assets are offered to those clubs taking part including posters, car stickers and banners with the tagline “We copy what we see, let’s make our sport smokefree”. There is also the option to order bespoke items, such as tabards and feather flags. And, of course, the local stop smoking service, Be Healthy Bucks, is signposted to to help those who want to stop smoking.
Berks and Bucks FA Safeguarding Officer Graham Fisher said the organisation was “delighted” to be involved. "Smokefree Sidelines policy complements existing club policies and supports many clubs’ desire to create a healthy family-friendly environment. We believe that such an environment and image will be valuable in attracting new members and positively promoting the club within the local community.”
Getting biggest bang for your buck
Before launching a project like this, Public Health Consultant Dr Tiffany Burch said there are several steps that need to be considered.
Firstly, she said, it is vital to engage the target audience. “We held a scoping project with the Berks and Bucks FA. They were hosting one of their Respect workshops with welfare officers and club members and we were a bolt on to that.
“We delivered a presentation on Smokefree Sidelines, setting out what it was about, what was expected and what we could provide clubs. We have continued working hard to promote the scheme, going out to tournaments and open days – and we have even done a podcast. It has gathered momentum. Other clubs see their opponents joining and naturally ask about it.”
Ensuring time, effort and funding goes into the right areas is also essential. “We have a limited budget and things like this take time. We went for football specifically because it is the most popular sport among children, particularly in areas of Buckinghamshire with higher levels of smoking. We would not rule out working with say rugby and cricket clubs in the future, but we want to make sure we have the biggest bang for our buck.”
She said Buckinghamshire has also decided to apply the ban to vaping. “We know vaping is an important tool to help people quit, but we don’t want children to take up vaping. We ask people to not do it around the pitches. You definitely don't want children and young people seeing it as a ‘cool’ activity.”
Smokefree playgrounds and parks
Alongside Smokefree Sidelines, Buckinghamshire has also launched a similar project focussed on playgrounds and parks. The council has focussed on the Opportunity Bucks areas, which are the 10 most deprived parts of the county. Again, the idea has been to target the work in a way that captures communities where smoking is most prevalent.
A key partner in this project has been schools, said Ms Kineen. “We work with the community boards and parish councils to identify the parks and playgrounds and then we approach the local schools to run a competition to design the signage for the parks and playgrounds.
“It is a great way of engaging the children and in turn makes their parents aware of what is happening – and the children’s designs are brilliant. Again, no one is policing it, but it is working well. It also makes the public realm more attractive.”
Ms Kineen said she is now talking to housing associations and housing providers which operate playgrounds to see if the project can be extended to those.
Buckinghamshire Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing Councillor Angela Macpherson said: “These programmes are about creating a new social norm in our county. We know children are impressionable so reducing their exposure to smoking and vaping is important. Children are less likely to start smoking if their primary role models do not smoke. We’re committed to creating a smokefree generation.”
Buckinghamshire is now looking to build on the work that has been done by cracking down on illegal sales. To do this, the public health team has started funding a trading standards officer to focus on underage sales of tobacco as well as alcohol and vaping in a two-year pilot.
Ms Burch said: “We’re really excited about it because a lot of our challenges are also around how easily children can illegally access these products. We do get a lot of intel about which shops are doing it, but there is little we can do. The penalties are small and trading standards has many priority areas. This should have a real impact. It goes to show for tobacco control, we work across the council and community. It is not just about providing a good smoking cessation service.”