4:40pm Friday 6th March 2009
By Claire Lomax
A woman who had been a smoker since the age of 16 has finally quit her habit after her employer Pace introduced work-based stop smoking sessions.
The move has seen the Saltaire digital TV set-top box producer awarded a Smoke-free platinum award for its commitment to promoting a smoke-free environment and supporting staff who want to stop smoking.
For Mel Johnson, who works in the legal department, the start of the workplace group meant she could get the professional help and support she needed without having to move far from her desk.
She said: “I think the group started at the right time for me. I really needed to stop smoking for my health and the workplace group made it so easy to get help.
“Knowing that Pace supported the stop smoking group and what we were trying to achieve made a big difference – and now I’m a non-smoker! I think I would have found it hard to motivate myself to go to a group in the evening, so quitting at work was great for me.”
Mel attended the free six-week course with other colleagues and was offered support and advice plus a range of nicotine replacement products and stop smoking medicines to help the cravings.
Gail Stringer, from the stop smoking service, part of Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust, who ran the group and presented the award, said: “The support of Pace to set up a workplace group, allowing people to attend in work time, has shown a real commitment to helping their staff improve their health.
“They’ve also introduced healthier options in the staff restaurant which can help everyone maintain a healthy weight, especially when you’re stopping smoking.”
Ian McAleese, head of human resources at Pace, said: “We ran some information sessions late last year to gauge interest and following this we set up the programme with the trust in the new year.
“I’m delighted that we have succeeded in helping our people to improve their health through the programme, and this is something we will continue.”
Other companies who have received the platinum award are Morrisons HQ, Bowers Metrology, Bradford, Spooner Industries, Ilkley, and Bradford College.
The stop smoking service is available to set up free workplace groups across Bradford and Airedale. It also runs sessions at many different venues including community centres, hospitals, maternity home visits.
To find out more, people can call the stop smoking service on (01274) 363559 or contact their GP surgery to find out about practise-based support.
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