Young Slovenian delegation: Scottish tobacco policy “one of the most advanced” in Europe

In September 2014, six young people from youth organisation No Excuse in Slovenia traveled to Scotland to learn more about Scottish tobacco policies and practices and meet charities such as Fast Forward, Young Scot and ASH Scotland. While here they began planning with these stakeholders for the Second European Tobacco Youth Conference, which we all hope will be taking place in 2015 in Scotland.

Here they share their experiences and thoughts on Scotland’s tobacco policies.

Hello Scotland!

The week has been great experience, thanks to the hard work of the Senior Development Officer Chiara Marin at Fast Forward, who helped organize and coordinate our trip.

In our short week in Scotland, we were amazed by the incredible gothic architecture and our own difficulty in understanding the Scottish accent. Similarly, the huge number of squirrels at the grave yards and bunnies jumping hopping around the University of Stirling were also something we don’t often see back home. There was so much for us to admire, and one thing that really stood out for us is their strong tobacco policy, which we think is one of the most advanced in Europe.

Our organization, No Excuse Slovenia has worked on tobacco prevention since 2006, but it is always inspiring to meet other groups working for the same cause and aiming towards the same goals. Among others, it was an honor to meet the Urban Fox Programme, which provides educational and diversionary activities for young people in Glasgow’s East End, and also to spend some time with members if the Youth Commission on Smoking Prevention, a group of young people that dedicated a year to researching their peers thoughts and habits around smoking.

We were also able to find out more about Fast Forward, which exists to give young people the skills, education and support to live healthier lives. They have a number of great projects in several areas of risk behaviors among youth, including tobacco work and the Smoke Free Homes project run in partnership with NHS Lothian.

We also received lots of valuable information about the work in the field of tobacco prevention by meeting with the Trading Standards Service for Scotland (SCOTSS) and the Scottish Tobacco Control Alliance. We found it very interesting and useful to learn about the approaches they use and will try to implement them in our country.

On top of all of this, we had the opportunity to discuss the importance of promoting healthy lifestyles through social marketing by meeting with Martine Stead from the Institute of Social Marketing at the University of Stirling.

We were especially delighted to meet with Siobhan Mackay from Scottish Government and hear more about the Scottish plan for a Tobacco-Free Generation by 2034. We then took part in a multi-agency meeting with relevant stakeholders such as Ash Scotland, Young Scot, Fast Forward, Education Scotland, NHS Lothian, NHS Health Scotland, CLD and the University of Edinburgh.

We were able to discuss with them our hopes for the Second European Tobacco Youth Conference and hear their advice on the matter.

The study visit was a great success and we met all of our objectives for the trip, which was fantastic. And what better way to end the week than by going to a ceilidh with Chiara: we soon discovered that although the dance is hot and sweaty, it’s absolutely amazing!