Youngster's poster plea to help ward off smoking (From Watford Observer)

Youngster's poster plea to help ward off smoking in Hertsmere

3:50pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Kathryn Snowdon, Reporter

A ten-year-old girl is urging people not to smoke around Hertsmere’s play areas.

Megan Reynolds, of Bushey Grove Road, is the winner of a poster-design competition that aims to decrease the amount of second-hand smoke that is passed onto others, especially children, in playgrounds.

Megan’s winning poster was unveiled at a presentation ceremony at King George’s Recreation Ground, Bushey, on Wednesday afternoon (National No Smoking Day).

Pupils from across Hertsmere were encouraged to take part in the new campaign, and Meg’s colourful design was chosen from around 40 entries.

The youngster said: "One of my cousins smokes and I am trying to get him to stop. It is bad for you and it smells horrid."

Megan’s mother, Kate, added: "She isn’t the biggest fan of smoking, and she has a habit of coughing when people are smoking.

I don’t know where she gets it from."

The smoking ban is voluntary, and so will not be enforced by the council’s officers.

Councillor Brenda Batten, portfolio holder for leisure, culture and health, said she hopes the new posters will remind parents and other adults of the negative impact smoking has on not just their own health, but also their child’s.

Adam Crowe, business manager at Hertfordshire Stop Smoking Service, said: "Children learn behaviour from adults and are three times more likely to take up smoking themselves if they grow up in a smoking household.

NHS Hertfordshire’s Public Health Team’s Tobacco Control Lead, Wendy Tooke, said she thinks the fact that it is the children themselves who are doing the posters, creates a much more powerful way of delivering the message.

The campaign was led by the council and supported by the Hertsmere Health and Wellbeing Partnership and NHS Hertfordshire.

As Megan’s prize, she won an A3 copy of her poster and a family ticket to Willows Farm Village and Farm Park in Colney Heath.