MORE than 150 people attended the Pangula Mannamurna World No Tobacco Day Games at the weekend.
The event, which highlights the benefits of avoiding cigarettes, was held at Vansittart Park.
Pangula Mannmurna indigenous smoking prevention coordinator Danielle Ashford hailed it a huge success.
Although World No Tobacco Day is held on May 31, Ms Ashford said holding the games over the weekend helped get the community involved.
“We are so pleased with the turnout we received,” she said.
“It is a really big achievement for our team and it makes us more excited to be able to create events like this every year for World No Tobacco Day.”
Although the event is held by Pangula Mannamurna, Ms Ashford said she hoped everyone from the community felt welcome to join the celebrations.
“Not all indigenous people have indigenous partners, a lot of the families we work with are multicultural and diverse so we want to be able to influence everybody,” she said.
“As we are coming into Reconciliation Week this week, it is a great thing for the wider community to join forces and stamp out smoking for good.”
Tobacco action event coordinator Jade Maiden said World No Tobacco Day 2018 focused on the effects of smoking on cardiovascular health, prompting the team to hold a colour run to celebrate healthy life choices.
“We wanted to have a great sporty day full of fun activities to promote heart health and a healthy lifestyle together,” she said.
“Things like this show the benefits of not smoking and everything you can achieve when you are happy and healthy.”
The colour run was the main event of the day with participants running around Vansittart Park and being covered in bright colours at each station.
In addition, there was also a jumping castle, face painting and other mini-games, plus a visit from new mascot Sid.
Member for Barker Tony Pasin said the event was a great way to raise awareness about indigenous smoking.
“The reduction in smoking rates throughout Australia is a great achievement and something our whole country can be proud of,” he said.
“But there is always more work to be done, the long-term costs to our health services due to smoking related illness is astronomical so things like this are great at getting the message out there.
“Although the event focuses on indigenous Australians, we as a whole need to come together to create change for the future.”
Pangula Mannamurna’s new chief executive Andrew Birtwistle-Smith said he was lucky to become part of such a great and focused team able to coordinate worthwhile events.
“The team here is nationally known for its efforts towards issues like this,” he said.
“I feel incredibly blessed to join the team and contribute to such a great cause.
“It is my first big event with Pangula and seeing the support we get from not just the indigenous community, but the wider community as a whole really grounds you.”
Mr Birtwistle-Smith said he was grateful for his new position and excited for what the next year has to offer.
“With the success of this event, we are already gearing up to be bigger and better next year,” he said.
“We also have Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week celebrations coming up.
“The whole team is looking forward to joining with the community and celebrating these too.”
Pangula Mannamurna hosts its Reconciliation Week barbecue today from noon to 2pm at the Pangula Mannamurna Aboriginal Corporation healing circles.
