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Asthma UK Recognise Sheffield’s Air Quality Effort
July 2008
As authorities in Beijing prepare for the Olympics to kick off in August by doing all they can to reduce air pollution in the city, Sheffield is being congratulated for the city’s efforts to improve air quality.
National charity Asthma UK have presented Sheffield City Council with an award in recognition of the national best practice shown in the city towards improving air quality, and therefore improving quality of life for asthma sufferers in the city.
Sheffield is one of only four cities in the UK to be presented the Clean Air Gold Medal Award, which comes on the back of the recognition the city received in 2007, when it was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for commitment to delivering cleaner air.
Care4Air, South Yorkshire’s air quality awareness campaign, which worked closely with Sheffield City Council and other agencies to help the city achieve beacon status, have welcomed the award from Asthma UK.
Care4Air is an influential part of keeping Sheffield committed to improving air quality, working to help people across the city become aware of how they can make small changes to their lives to make a big change to air quality, through being more energy-efficient in the home, and through cycling, walking, using the bus or car sharing rather than making single-occupancy car journeys.
Traffic pollution is a major source of air pollutants, and two thirds of people with asthma say that fumes from traffic aggravate their condition. There is also mounting evidence to suggest that living near a major road is associated with worsening asthma symptoms.*
Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Local Environment, said: “We are delighted to accept the award from Asthma UK, in recognition of the hard work that the city is putting into improving air quality for all residents, not only those with asthma.
“Care4Air has played an important part in helping to make people in Sheffield aware of what they can do to improve air quality. I have always taken a keen interest in improving air quality and I’d encourage people to visit the website www.care4air.org to find out what they can do to help.”
Neil Churchill, Chief Executive, Asthma UK said: “We are delighted to present Sheffield City Council with our Clean Air Gold Medal Award in recognition of their efforts to reduce the impact of air pollution on the lives of the 43,000 people in Sheffield who suffer from asthma.
“Evidence suggests that people with asthma are in greater danger of having an attack when exposed to air pollution, and in the UK over 200 people a day are admitted to hospital with potentially life-threatening asthma attacks. We hope that this award will encourage other Local Authorities to follow Sheffield City Council’s example by acting now to tackle air pollution and helping to improve the lives of people with asthma.”