Our Stories

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St. Bartholomew's House

Since partnering with Cancer Council WA, people accessing St Barts services have the opportunity to re-evaluate their smoking behaviours and their motivation to make a change.

Read more from St Bart's here

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Matt - Manager at Ruah (Drop-in) Centre and Street to Home Program

"I think staff are more comfortable talking to people about smoking, or potentially, now they see it as a major issue. Before, they probably thought it was one of the vices that people had to cope with everything else in their lives. Our mandate here is to try to assist the needs of the clients. So, if smoking is on their list, then that’s on us and we need to bring it up into conversation. Upon putting it into practice, we do it anyway. We already talk to them about all kinds of stuff what their drinking is like, what their finances are like, smoking is no different."

Larry - Clinical Manager at Hope Community Services’ Hope Springs Community Farm

"There is a massive benefit in quitting. I always say it’s a game breaker. I observe often when people manage to stop smoking they have better outcomes to those who carry on smoking tobacco. We’re trying to train and educate people to see it as a dangerous and harmful drug. That is beneficial for residents and hopefully they pass that on to their children and family. We have residents who have completed the program and who have said that stopping smoking played a huge part in their recovery and often they thank us for that. Quitting smoking would frequently be one of the things they would mention as a major factor in their journey of change."

Read more from Larry here

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Colette - Operations Manager at Cyrenian House

"We now have access to research that shows that quitting smoking can actually help people abstain from other drugs and remain AOD free. We also became aware that smoking is the most harmful behavior that people can engage in, in terms of substance use, given that it kills more people than any other drug. It didn’t sit right with us that we were condoning tobacco use while talking about harm minimisation and prevention of harm as it related to illicit drug use and alcohol use."

Tim - Counselling Coordinator at Cyrenian House

"We have recently conducted a survey with 50 people exiting the residential services. In our survey we asked people what their intentions were after leaving the centre. Out of 50, 20 intended to remain smoke free, 24 said that they would cut down the number of cigarettes they smoke, 4 said they would smoke the same and 2 didn’t answer that question. Even if people do not end up quitting long-term, it’s all part of building it into the process of change. Any step forward no matter how long it lasts; it’s all part of that process."

Cyrenian House Residents of a Smoke Free Therapeutic Community

Daniel

"This is probably the main thing I was really looking forward to, to give up smoking, because it was costing so much money. I used to wake up for a cigarette during the night. So, I’ve never had a solid night’s sleep and this is the first time I have slept solid in ages."

Keade

"I knew Cyrenian was smoke free so two months before I came in I was trying my best to give up. Coming here was my motivation. I told myself, ‘I’m going to go to rehab for the next couple of months of my life’, so that allowed me to put pressure on myself to give up. My sport was another motivation, I wanted to keep fit. It’s been really good. I haven’t been sick in the whole seven months I have been in here. I haven’t had a chest infection; I’ve just been really healthy. It has been a huge change."

Paula

"I quit because I came in here (Cyrenian House). I have been to rehab before and the other rehabs I was able to smoke at and this one I knew I couldn’t. It’s a habit I’ve wanted to quit for about ten years. I’m at the stage in the program where I’m able to go out on weekends. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to have a cigarette. A couple of my friends smoke and they would give me one no worries, but I don’t want to."

Jenna

“When I chose this place I thought, 'awesome there will be people that are serious about their recovery that are willing to give up smoking too'. (Now I have quit) I can breathe a lot better and also my anxiety doesn’t get as bad as it used to. I would say definitely go to a place that is smoke free because there is not that clicky environment of the smokers over there and if I want to socialise with them I need to smoke. There is none of that, so it brings it back to more of a level playing field.“

Anonymous

"I thought I’d be climbing the walls wanting a cigarette, but I’ve had hardly any cravings. Also being a smoke free environment I think it made it a lot easier. I think if there were people around smoking it would be a lot harder."

share your story

How do you talk to clients about smoking? How did you implement a smoke free policy? By sharing how you or your organisation supports clients to quit you could inspire others to do similar. Share your story via email here.