Smoke-free areas around school gates - Design a Sign competition

Breckland Council is promoting the introduction of voluntary smoke-free areas in the vicinity of children's play areas, school gates and nurseries where children may be exposed to the harmful effects of cigarette smoke, or learn to mimic the smoking action of adults gathering there.

With school gates a regular congregating point for children and smokers I am writing to ask if your school would like to get involved in supporting the project. This could be by encouraging children in your school to take part in our competition to create a design for a sign and / or by agreeing to put up one of the signs at your school gates when produced. This would be supplied free of charge.

Central to the project is our competition, supported by the Eastern Daily Press and through social media. The competition invites children to design posters depicting key smoking related health messages. Winners will receive a tablet computer and see their designs converted into signs and put up in locations throughout the district where children and adults might congregate.

Download an entry forms from the link above; these give further information about the competition and categories. All entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form, which should be attached to the submission. The closing date for entries is 5pm Friday 25 March 2016.

Winners will be notified and presented with their prizes in April by Breckland Council Executive Member for Public Protection, Marion Chapman-Allen. Winners and their designs will be photographed and these will be used by the Council for press releases and social media. The press will be invited to this event. Some winners will also be photographed when their winning designs are installed on site.

I would like to emphasise that this is a voluntary scheme - the signs will simply request adults not to smoke in that particular area. We believe that this initiative will have a positive benefit to the health of children in the district and I hope that you will promote this key health message to your students and adopt the voluntary code for your premises. We will encourage the media to name schools that are supporting the project, which will be positive publicity for your school if you chose to participate.