Naismith Backs Campaign

Scot urges parents to avoid cigarettes in the home.

Everton star Steven Naismith called on parents to stub it out after visiting a local primary school to highlight the dangers of passive smoking.

The Scotland international visited Broadgreen Primary School on Thursday to support SmokeFree Families, a project urging parents not to smoke in their home.

Naismith took part in a sports session with youngsters, delivered by Everton in the Community, to help them understand how smoking can have an adverse affect on physical ability and their health.

The Blues official charity is working alongside Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation to support SmokeFree Families and, as well as educating youngsters, they encouraged over 60 Evertonians not to smoke in their homes ahead of the Club's last Premier League home game against Newcastle United.

Naismith said: “Projects like this one really help children to understand how smoking can damage their health and makes parents think about how they are putting the children at risk too.

"I wholeheartedly support this campaign and hope it encourages parents to stub out their cigarettes and create a smoke free home for their family.”

In the UK, 42 per cent of children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home and in Liverpool alone, 96,400 people smoke with 65 per cent of those smoking in their household.

That means that up to 17,000 children under the age of five are admitted to hospital each year with a smoking-related illness.

The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is the only charity in the UK wholly dedicated to the defeat of lung cancer. The charity, based in Liverpool, fund cancer research, provide support and help people to quit smoking.