Fife College Case Study
Fife College introduced a Clear Air Policy in 2016. The move was intended as a stepping stone towards their long term aspiration to be a smoke-free campus.
Towards a smoke-free campus
Fife College’s clean-air policy has been framed in a positive light as a way to protect every student’s right to an environment free from smoke.
The institution’s policy highlights that Fife College aims to be smoke-free . Several measures have already been implemented to ease the transition.
- One of the five campuses is already smoke-free, with smoking not permitted anywhere on that campus. To promote the transition, designated smoking/vaping areas are situated on the remaining four campuses.
- The college works in partnership with local NHS stop-smoking services to support staff and students to quit smoking whilst promoting positive health messages across campus.
- The Student Association team uses ‘Big Ciggie’ a mean cigarette character suit to encourage students to move towards designated areas and to start a conversation about whether they have thought about stopping smoking.
- Ballot bins have been installed in the campuses smoking shelters. The polling bins have multiple uses; they encourage smokers to dispose of cigarette butts properly, they engage with smokers by asking a question and they promote the Quit Your Way helpline. Maintenance staff reported a decrease in cigarette litter in the shelters where ballot bins were available.
Fife College was the first college to pledge support for Scotland’s Charter for a Tobacco-free Generation an initiative to help deliver a tobacco-free generation by 2034.
Celebrating success
The college have achieved a 4 star rating in the Healthy Body Health Mind Award, a programme for improving student well-being, which recognises positive changes on campus in relation to smoking, mental health and physical activity.
“Fife College Student Association believe education is a transformative experience a path that our students take to change their lives; that education is not only about the academic value but the student as a whole.
A persons health and wellbeing is strongly impacted whilst studying and we want to help our students to improve their level of wellbeing during their time with us and in their next steps”
The college have achieved a 4 star rating in the Healthy Body Health Minds Award, a programme for improving student well-being.
Creative approaches
The Health Promotion department of Fife Health and Social Care Partnership (FH&SCP) worked with Fife College to explore new ways of reaching the 16-24 year old audience by delivering a design brief around tobacco prevention to creative industry students.
As part of their course, the Bachelor of Arts Visual Communication and Digital Publishing students were challenged to run their own agencies, taking briefs from industry clients. The brief from FH&SCP asked that students produce a range of inspiring interactive resources to encourage 16-24 year olds to quit smoking, or prevent them from starting.
Each of the three student agencies involved took a different approach to the subject.
- Student agency MERGE created ‘Myke’ the interactive infographic to promote health benefits of not smoking.
- Agency KERNEL designed a Star Wars style video game which shoots cigarettes at a mouth which, if it hits, it decreases strength of the heart and lungs.
- An environmental approach was taken by student agency HACK who designed a ‘Breathe Green’ campaign which highlighted how tobacco impacts on the environment and contributes to climate change. The campaign included a social media element and smoking shelter graphics.
“This project has been extremely exciting and it has been fantastic to see how the students’ ideas have developed – what a fantastic way to mark No Smoking Day in Fife. All of the ideas created can be used time and time again in different places and scenarios – we can’t wait to make them available in Fife. Alongside creating some great ideas to encourage young people in Fife to consider the impact tobacco has on their lives, the project has also built on the fantastic links we have with Fife College.”
Kay Samson, Deputy Health Promotion Manager at Fife Health and Social Care Partnership
“We decided to do something different to show the impact of smoking to make it more fun and interactive for young people with useful facts which are colourful and attractive. The students involved are the same age as the target group we are trying to reach so I think it was a great idea to get us involved. I’ve also really enjoyed working in an agency setting on a live project which gives us the experience we need to help secure jobs when we graduate.”
Wayne Craddock part of the MERGE student agency
“This has been a fantastic project to raise awareness of the health issues around smoking, to mark No Smoking Day and to give our students valuable experience. The event was a great success and proved popular with students and staff on campus – we look forward to supporting further health promotion initiatives in the future.”
Alastair Leadbetter, Health and Safety Manager at Fife College
Initially, Health Promotion were looking for just one idea to take forward but were so impressed with what the students came up with they have decided to utilize all the resources across Fife in the near future. A showcase event was held at the Kirkcaldy campus on No Smoking Day 2019.
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