Farren Tobacco Control Collection

Material collected and created by Cecilia Farren over the course of her career working in tobacco and public health. The materials reflect Cecilia's interest in the health risks of smoking to both smokers and non-smokers, tobacco control, the tobacco industry, smoking and education, smoking prevention and cessation, smoking in public places, and other tobacco related concerns. The collection includes a large collection of posters, publications, resources and audiovisual materials collected by Cecilia from across the world. These materials acted as a resource for Cecilia's own campaigning work, and often influenced and inspired the creation of materials sold by GASP. The collection also includes resources produced and sold by GASP, including leaflets, publications, 3D display boxes and boards, posters, educational resources, and related ephemera, as well as GASP catalogues. A smaller amount of material includes Cecilia's papers for various work projects, including GASP, AGHAST, HEA and related papers; more material of this nature is expected as an accrual at a later date.

1970s-2010s

25 boxes [5 boxes of AV]; 9 folders containing posters (containing 113 subfolders); 1 painting; 6 3D display boxes

Acquired in 2021.

Cecilia Farren is a retired tobacco control activist and health promotion worker, based in Bristol, the home of Imperial Tobacco. Over her career, Cecilia has worked for the NHS, NGOs and other tobacco control advocacy groups on issues relating to smoking and health. Cecilia has also set up a number of anti-smoking groups, including GASP, AGHAST, COUGHIN and a South West ASH branch. Cecilia is a 'protest shareholder' in Imperial Tobacco, and was awarded membership of the Faculty of Public Health for her achievements in tobacco control.

Cecilia Farren started working for Bristol and Weston Health Promotion Service in 1977, where she worked on several Community Health Projects. In 1979, her new manager Richard Wilkinson (a prominent and radical public health researcher) allowed her to take responsibility for tobacco and health related projects.

The following year, Cecilia set up GASP (Group Against Smoking in Public) as a non-smokers' rights group to campaign against smoking in public and raise awareness of the health risks of passive smoking. GASP served as a pressure group for non-smokers to target smokers, influenced by Cecilia's own experiences of quitting smoking because of a relationship with a non-smoker. One of the first activities undertaken under the auspices of GASP was a survey of restaurants in Bristol about smoking in public places. While GASP was Cecilia's creation, she was able to run the group within her local Health Promotion Unit and with the sponsorship of the NHS.

GASP grew over the years into a mail order company for anti-tobacco educational resources, as well as providing advocacy and consultancy on smoking and health. In 1995, GASP started selling resources as a mail order company, including its own leaflets, and expanding into other items including models, 3D displays, charts, activity packs and other educational products. The majority of these resources were written, created and designed by Cecilia, who oversaw the management of the company from her home office. In later years, the company expanded into a large-scale warehouse operation selling and distributing a wide catalogue of anti-tobacco products. In 2015(?), Cecilia sold GASP Resources and anti-tobacco material continues to be produced and sold under the GASP name [correct as of 2021].

Following giving birth in 1982, Cecilia went to Australia and met anti-smoking activists in Melbourne and Sydney. She took part in BUGA UP (Billboard Utilising Activists Against Unhealthy Promotions) raids, targeting tobacco advertisements and billboards through graffiti subvertising. Inspired by the anti-smoking movement in Australia, Cecilia set up two further campaigns to her Bristol work on her return: AGHAST (Action Group to Halt Advertising and Sponsorship by Tobacco) and COUGHIN (Citizens' Organisation for the Use of Graffiti for Health in the Neighbourhood, also known as Cough Up). After Cecilia was caught by the police graffitiing a billboard, Cecilia decided to shift her efforts to avoid getting into trouble with the law. This led her to focus on AGHAST projects and to set up a South West branch of ASH. However, the non-smoking activism of Australia remained a strong influence on Cecilia's own campaigning work back in the UK.

After ten years working for Bristol and Weston Health Promotion Service, Cecilia moved to the Health Education Authority, where she worked on the HEA'S National tobacco programme, HELIOS. In this role, she coordinated the national "No Smoking Day", working with health promotion units across the UK to offer ideas and advice for events, media and activities. Cecilia also managed a small grants programme to encourage local health workers to undertake media advocacy work on national campaigns including Smoking Epidemic, Ad Bans, Smokefree Workplaces and the Children's Charter.

On leaving HEA in 1987, Cecilia undertook freelance consultancy work for a few years. This included work for National Lottery Charities Board, Children in Need and other charities. This also included some work around tobacco cessation, including working with Gateshead Tobacco Alliance to set up a small grants project and media advocacy campaign, writing a Tobacco Control Media Advocacy manual and training for Smokefree South West, Quit and Win campaigns in Europe, and working with North Birmingham NHS on the Khush Dil project encouraging members of the Bangladeshi community to stop smoking.

From 1996, Cecilia returned to more local health related activities, working for Health Promotion Avon in Marketing and Communications. This role included organising press releases, press conferences and media activity across different public health initiatives.

Cecilia's work has also included directly targeting and campaigning against the tobacco industry by sabotaging their PR efforts, campaigning against tobacco advertising, sponsorship and other promotional activities. Cecilia entered a portrait of a father in his 30s dying of lung cancer to the John Player Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait was shortlisted for the award before being withdrawn when the panel realised it was a protest piece.

Cecilia's anti-tobacco has often taken the form of direct action, including protests outside Imperial Tobacco's headquarters in Bristol. These protests often involve fancy dress, for example, picketing outside Imperial Tobacco dressed as Santa Claus against their Christmas display of Santa smoking a cigar. Other protests have included funeral processions, can-can dancers, a grim reaper, and Cecilia's homemade 'Big Cig' costume.

Cecilia's work is characterised by playful puns, humour and creativity, and a resourceful and radical approach to undermining the tobacco industry and promoting the health benefits of a smokefree lifestyle. Cecilia has actively involved her family and close friends in her campaigning efforts, encouraging them to dress up for direct action and model products in her GASP catalogues. Though she is now officially retired, she still participates in some educational events around smoking and health.

This collection is currently uncatalogued and cannot be ordered online. Requests to view uncatalogued material are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for more details.

Some working files retained by Cecilia and expected for transfer at a later date.

Records acquired from Cecilia Farren's home in Bristol, where they had been housed for many years in Cecilia's basement home office.