Kick the Habit, urges Kins

Mark Kinsella and coaches from the Charlton Community Trust visited Greenwich Shopping Park last week to launch a new smoking cessation programme in the borough.

Salman Siddiqui, Deb Browne and Mark Kinsella outside Boots

The Addicks first-team coach visited the Boots store, off Bugsby's Way, as part of the 'Kick the Habit' campaign, which gives shoppers access to professional information, tips and advice on how to quit smoking.

As part of the 'Kick the Habit' initiative, in conjunction with NHS Greenwich, a team of five quit smoking professionals will visit the shopping park every Friday and Saturday, from 10am-4pm, for the next five weeks.

Shoppers will be encouraged to sign up and follow the quit smoking programme. Anyone signing up will be able to return to the park every Friday or Saturday to meet with an advisor and talk through their progress, ensuring they stay on track and manage to kick the habit.

Deb Browne, Kick the Habit project manager from the trust and NHS Greenwich, said: "This will be the first time we host the quit smoking programme at a retail park in Greenwich borough, and we're really pleased with the park's support.

"We have worked with Boots on health campaigns in the past, and we hope that this campaign will be the best yet."

Salman Siddiqui, Boots store manager at Greenwich Shopping Park, said: "Over 114,000 people die each year in the UK due to smoking-related illnesses, which is a frightening statistic and anything we can do to help reduce the number of cases is worthwhile.

"So many people want to give up smoking, but struggle when it comes to getting the right support. We hope that by having these sessions regularly and for free, we can help people kick the habit for good."

Sian Nicholls, of Greenwich Shopping Park, said: "This campaign is the perfect opportunity for anyone who wants to give up smoking. All our stores are backing the campaign and I would like to thank Boots for giving up space in store to offer these free sessions for six weeks.

"We hope that visitors to the park will take advantage and spread the word to friends and family to make our campaign a real success."

'Kick the Habit' was officially launched on January 29th and will continue every Friday and Saturday until Saturday, March 13th.

The programme is part of a wider initiative established by the Charlton trust in 2006 in partnership with NHS Greenwich and Greenwich Council.

For more information on quitting, see www.greenwichshoppingpark.co.uk