Celebrating the Christchurch Bhutanese community and World Smokefree Day

On Saturday June 4, 2016 more than 150 adults and children from the Christchurch Bhutanese community came together to celebrate their wonderful community and World Smokefree Day. The event was organised jointly by Christchurch Resettlement Services (CRS) and the Bhutanese Society of Christchurch, NZ.

Thanks to the generous support of Principal Matt Bateman, of Burnside Primary School, the event was held on the school grounds with the use of their school hall.  

As well as a table tennis tournament, there was a bouncy castle for the little ones, a number of sports to play and community members could ‘have a go’ at a variety of Crazy Bikes – some had never ridden a bike before!  The highlight of the day for many was the woman’s musical chairs competition!

Throughout the morning, Nepali speaking bilingual workers from CRS asked people a short quiz about tobacco to raise awareness about the ‘Smokefree Aotearoa NZ 2025’ goal.  This goal, set by the NZ government, aims to reduce smoking levels in NZ to below 5% of the population (currently around 17%) by 2025.

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For information on how you can help NZ to become tobacco-free or for help to quit smoking visit www.smokefree.org.nz, contact Christchurch Resettlement Services, Ph 335 0311, or talk to your GP. This story and picture is courtesy CRS.