YYOUmay have seen TV adverts about October becoming Stoptober, which is a campaign to encourage more people to give up smoking and adopt healthier lifestyles.

Since April, the local Council has taken on new public health responsibilities, hence our support for the anti-smoking campaign.

In practice, this means that the Council now has a Health and Wellbeing Board, which I chair as leader of the Council and we produce new strategies and targets to help people improve their lives. We have additional money and resources that the government transferred to us from the old Primary Care Trust.

It is interesting to see how times have changed. We have pictures at the civic offices with the town’s most famous town clerk, David Murray John; in almost all of them, he is smoking. Today, some of the senior officers, and many members of staff, speak of the 10k runs, cricket matches and even triathlons in which they compete.

On that note, I would like to congratulate one of my Cabinet colleagues, Claire Ellis, who successfully completed her first 10km race last weekend. Claire, along with many others will be taking part in the British Heart Foundation Half marathon in Swindon this Sunday.

I am sure we would like to wish Claire and all the runners the best of luck. If you can, please come along and cheer, as I am sure that all those taking part will be grateful for the support. Don’t forget, we also have the 5km multi-terrain run and 2km fun run.

We don’t all have to engage in such athletic pursuits. Even small steps such as cutting down the amount we smoke or drink, or eating more fresh fruit and vegetables can help. The Council supports walking groups to help people become more active. Thursday’s Haydon Wick walk is now the largest in the country and Covingham will have its first on Monday, starting at 2pm from St Paul’s Church Hall. We also have a range of leisure centres that offer a wide range of activities from athletics to Zumba. Please see http://www.leisureinswindon.co.uk/ for details.

Our focus as a Council is on encouraging healthy living so that more of us can remain independent and active for longer. It helps take the strain off the NHS and our own care budgets, and it should enable us to spend more money on those who really need it. If we can reduce the number of people who fall ill from smoking, drinking too much alcohol and not taking enough exercise, we will all benefit.

If you would like more information on Stoptober, please visit the Council’s website www.swindon.gov.uk. For a wide range of hints and advice, please use the NHS Live Well webpages http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/Pages/Livewellhub.aspx