Staffordshire Moorlands school boy, Archie Johnson, has wowed TV ‘dragon’ Duncan Bannatyne and bagged his school £210 of ‘swag’ after winning a national poster competition to promote the British Heart Foundation’s No Smoking Day campaign.
The poster design by eleven year-old Archie, from Endon High School, was chosen from over 3,000 entries for the way it highlighted the cost of smoking and mirrored the ‘swap fags for swag’ campaign theme. Archie’s poster focussed on the family benefits of quitting and included a swimming pool scene with the slogan “Bin fags for a week and take the kids for a swim”.
In a special assembly this week, Karen Bradley, MP for Staffordshire Moorlands, presented Archie with a bespoke t-shirt featuring his winning design and gave the school £210 worth of vouchers – the amount an average smoker spends each month on cigarettes.
Karen said: “It’s fantastic to see schools in the area taking part in this campaign and getting the the word out to children that smoking is not only bad for your health but for your wealth too. And what a great design! I’m extremely pleased for Endon High and I hope the prize can be used to buy some ‘swag’ for the school!”
Duncan Bannatyne said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response, having received more than 3,000 entries from schools across the UK, however Archie’s design was a clear winner.
“His drawing of a cigarette turning into pound coins was extremely creative and going swimming with the family was an ideal way of how to spend the smoking savings!”
Alison Gibson, Headteacher of Endon High School, said: “It’s has been great to get the children involved with the No Smoking Day campaign this year and it was a real eye opener for students to learn about the true cost of smoking.
“We’re delighted Duncan chose an Endon High pupil as the winner, especially given his status as a tough judge and since competition was so fierce!”
No Smoking Day 2013 took place on March 13. The annual health campaign is responsible for helping more than 750,000 people across the UK attempt to quit on the day, and for inspiring another 1.5 million to seek out information to help them quit in future.
Approximately 10 million UK adults smoke but two thirds of smokers want to give up.
Smokers who want to find out more can visit WeQuit.co.uk, call the free helpline on 0800 434 6677.