NHS Smokefree campaign teams up with Justgiving.com
Howard Lake | 20 November 2006 | News
The NHS Smokefree campaign has teamed up with Justgiving to launch the UK’s first national sponsored quit attempt. Would-be-quitters can attempt to give up smoking while raising money online for a charity of their choice.
The campaign, which launches today, encourages smokers to commit to a date by which they will have quit cigarettes. By committing to this date, the smoker needs to have smoked their last cigarette at least one month before their chosen day.
They then choose a charity from one of Justgiving’s 2,000 member organisations for which to raise money. They can then make their own personalised webpage where friends and family can go to sponsor them as they beat their habits for good.
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Family, friends and colleagues of the quitter can then visit their personalised sponsorship page and sponsor the quitter to successfully beat the cigarettes.
Quitters also have the option to pledge to match the amount of money raised by the sponsors if the quit attempt is unsuccessful.
The new website provides quitters with information about the free support and advice available through the NHS Smoking Helpline (0800 169 0 169) and the local NHS Stop Smoking Services.
Smokers can either choose to give up and raise money for a charity of their choice individually or in a group e.g. smokers could team up with their friends or with colleagues at work and give up together.
Anne-Marie Huby, Justgiving’s Managing Director, said: “This is a really exciting initiative for both the smokers taking part and our member charities. The quitters get all the health benefits that come with giving up smoking and the charities receive the money raised from their efforts. By being able to see the support of friends and family, we hope that the quitters are inspired to successfully give up and raise money for a good cause in the process.”
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.