Roweena Bassett quits smoking and becomes shoe addict

Oct 11 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

HEALTH worker Roweena Bassett has become a billboard star after admitting swapping her cigarette addiction for another vice . . . shoes.

The health worker packed in a 30-a day habit two years ago, alongside her husband Graeme, just as the smoking ban was coming into effect.

Roweena, of North Shields, North Tyneside, was delighted to put the boot in on her nicotine habit . . . but she soon developed a completely new craving for shoes.

She saves an extra £200 a month by not buying cigs, but has revealed she now spends all that cash on new pairs of high heels and boots . . . at least one new pair a month and says she now has more than 100 pairs

Now she is coming clean to the whole world with her admission, as one of the faces of a lifesaving new campaign from Fresh – Smoke Free North East – having been helped to quit with the help of Newcastle and North Tyneside NHS Stop Smoking Service.

Roweena’s quitting story and shoe collection can now be seen by thousands of people across the region on billboards, leaflets and all other manner of printed material designed to encourage others to stub out.

The 37-year-old, who smoked for 22 years, said: “I just love shoes and the thrill you get shopping for them.

“Now I don’t smoke I feel healthier and have lots more energy to go shopping, so I’ve got a thing for black shoes, especially boots and high heels, and where I used to just buy one pair when I got paid I can now afford three.

“I’m not into designer labels, but I’m saving up for some expensive Kurt Geiger heels for the party season.”

The determined health administrator, who works for North Tyneside Primary Care Trust, told how she got quite a shock the first time she spotted her own face beaming out of a poster at a North Tyneside bus stop.

She said: “I’m on a billboard and a poster in North Shields . . . and it’s very strange seeing yourself in an advert.

“The first time I saw one I had only just recovered from swine flu, so I really did want to be sick.