Women in Blanchardstown complete ‘We Can Quit’ programme and quit smoking together

A group of women in Blanchardstown have successfully completed a programme called We Can Quit which aims to help women to quit smoking together. We Can Quit is an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society in partnership with the Blanchardstown Area Partnership, the Blanchardstown Primary Care Team, Health Promotion and Improvement HSE and Touchstone Pharmacy. In total, 12 women from the area attended and successfully completed the course in Blanchardstown Primary Care Centre and Blakestown Resource Centre which ran from September to December 2015. This is the third time the Society has run the programme in the area and to date 46 women have participated and completed the course in Blanchardstown over the last two years.  We Can Quit is a free 12-week programme where women join forces on a quitting journey together. They attend weekly group sessions and one to one support meetings as well as receiving 12 weeks of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to the value of €450 free of charge. The programme is open to all female smokers living in the Blanchardstown Area, Dublin 15 who were over the age of 18.Joanne Vance, Senior Health Promotion Officer at the Irish Cancer Society said: “It is wonderful to see more women from Dublin 15 quitting smoking and embarking on their new smoke-free lives. We know that women have so many challenges and commitments in their lives already and that they can see quitting smoking as an uphill struggle that is difficult to take on. We Can Quit offers women a friendly and supportive network of like-minded women who know what they are going through. Together, they can support each other on their quitting journey.  I would like to congratulate all of the women who have completed the programme to date – they are making such a positive impact on their lives. We now welcome participants to our next We Can Quit programme in the area which will begin in the New Year. We are here to support women who are looking to stop smoking and we know that with the right support, you can do it.” Terry McCabe, Deputy CEO of Blanchardstown Area Partnership said: “We are delighted to work on the We Can Quit programme which helps women in the area be smoke-free and improves their overall health. Well done to everyone who took part and I encourage women who are looking to quit in the New Year to sign up to We Can Quit.” The Irish Cancer Society will be running a new We Can Quit programme in Blanchardstown again early in the New Year and will be expanding to areas such as Swords and Balbriggan in 2016 also. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about We Can Quit, visit the Society’s website www.cancer.ie/we-can-quit where details of the new courses will be live in the New Year.   You can also get in touch with Rachel Burke at the Irish Cancer Society by emailing rburke@irishcancer.ie or calling 01 2316669.