Jo Gaffikin and the Forest Awards

Further to my previous post, the head of communications at the Design Museum began her career with Forest.

Josephine Chanter (née Gaffikin) joined us in January 2001. 'Here comes the bride' includes a potted history of her time with Forest but until this morning I had forgotten her role in choosing the 2003 Forest Awards.

Not as prestigious, perhaps, as the Designs of the Year, they were announced as follows:

US actor Johnny Depp was today given the title 'Smoker of the Year'. The award, announced by the smokers' lobby group Forest, is in recognition of the fact that "Depp is the least paranoid of all celebrity smokers".

Forest spokesman Jo Gaffikin said, "What we like about Depp is the fact that, unlike most celebrity smokers, he doesn't feel the need to apologise for his habit. He seems to enjoy it, he allows himself to be photographed doing it, and he's happy to talk about it. He is the most normal, least paranoid, of all celebrity smokers."

Other Forest awards that year included:

Smoker's Rights Champion of the Year
We said: "Cross-Channel operator Hoverspeed had the guts and tenacity to stand up for its passengers and challenge Customs and Excise over the treatment of cross-Channel shoppers. Even though the case was eventually lost on appeal, we commend this rare example of corporate courage."

Journalist of the Year
We said: "In a strong field Daily Telegraph columnist Tom Utley deserves special mention for his urgent call to arms: 'Smokers of the world unite! We have been bullied and nannied long enough. And if Tony Blair is tempted to follow the lead of Ireland and Italy, let us remind him that only 10.7 million voted Labour last time. But 15 million smoke."

UK Politician of the Year
We said: "It takes courage to stand up to the anti-smoking brigade. Recently, David Davies AM did exactly that. In a recent debate in the Welsh Assembly Davies memorably told Dai Lloyd, health spokesman for Plaid Cymru, 'I think at your last party conference your party voted to legalise brothels. So I can't be alone in thinking it a bit ironic that anyone who visits such an establishment will be more at risk from the vice squad if they lit up a post-coital cigarette than from any activities that took place beforehand."

EU Politician of the Year
We said: "European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein stood up to the UK Government and insisted that legitimate cross-Channel shoppers have every right to take advantage of the European single market. Well done, Frits."

Political Act of Courage
We said: "The Greater London Authority Investigative Committee on Smoking in Public Places has been recognised for refusing to bow to pressure from the anti-smoking lobby's demand that it should recommend further restrictions on smoking in public places. Although the committee called for more research into passive smoking, it accepted that current scientific evidence does not justify further restrictions on smoking in public places. Special praise to Jeanette Arnold who put aside her anti-smoking prejudices [and chaired] the committee with wit and charm."

Campaigner of the Year
We said: "Leicester-based Nikki Leftly was the woman behind SCAMM (Smokers Campaign Against Midland Mainline). Nikki and her fellow commuters may have lost their battle against the ban on smoking on Midland Mainline trains but they showed that, if smokers stick together, they can still rattle a few cages."

We discontinued the Forest Awards for a number of reasons (the last Smokers' Rights Champion was David Hockney in 2006) but I'm tempted to bring them back. Nominations, anyone?

PS. From campaign manager at Forest to head of communications at the Design Museum via the Crafts Council. It proves there is life after tobacco!