From Kicking to Jumping

3 keen and eager Kick It staff members from will be taking to the skies on 10th September as they perform tandem parachute jumps to raise funds and awareness for Maggie’s Centre, a free service available to anyone in the capital who has been diagnosed with or affected by cancer.  Maggie’s Centre opened in 2008 and is located at Charing Cross Hospital; it is part-funded by Lottery funds but relies on donations to make up the £500,000 per year it costs to run.  Emma Montero, speaking on behalf of the Kick-It parachuting team, said “We chose Maggie’s Centre because it provides a unique model of support for newly diagnosed cancer sufferers as well as their friends and families”.  You can sponsor Emma, Pennia and Poonam at:  http://www.justgiving.com/kickitstopsmokingservice

Kick It 5th best in London

In 2008/09 Hammersmith & Fulham Stop Smoking Service was one of the worst performing services in London so it is with great pride that we can report that since the inception of Kick It, we have become one of the best. 2009/10 figures for London stop smoking services have recently been published and we came out 5th out of 31 for numbers of quitters proportional to Borough population. A big “thank you” to all of you who have contributed so much to this achievement.

Shops plea on cigarette display ban

Shops are pressing ministers to drop a ban on displaying cigarettes due to be introduced next year under a Labour law. Shopkeepers say changing displays will cost about £1,000 each and put them at risk of being robbed as they reach for cigarettes kept away from view.

Nearly 1,000 shopkeepers are writing to ministers and MPs calling for the ban to be scrapped, say the National Federation of Retail Newsagents.  The charity Action on Smoking and Health say that cigarette makers use packaging and displays to tempt children to smoke.

Incentive campaign update

For those of you who registered for our Summer incentive campaign, the last quit date that counts towards your free cinema tickets is 31st August. Just to remind you, you will receive one free cinema ticket for every two quitters, so now is the time to follow up with your July/August clients and help as many as possible quit! The closing date for client paperwork for this campaign is 31st October 2010, after this date all cinema tickets will be issued.

Did you know?

Recent research in the journal Tobacco Control found that out of 572 movies assessed, more than two thirds (69%) featured smoking. Of these, more than nine out of 10 were classified as suitable for adolescents (’15′ or ’12A’) under the UK ratings system.