Wednesday 11 March 2020 is National No Smoking Day. Londoners are being invited to use this day as an opportunity to pair up with a friend or loved one and “quit together”.
Amazing things happen when you quit smoking
Stop Smoking London designed the award-winning “Amazing Things Happen” campaign based on insight with London smokers, which discovered many Londoners are tired of hearing about the harm smoking does - they want to hear more about the benefits of quitting. Their research also underlined the strong social element to smoking, with three quarters of smokers interviewed saying that smoking is “normal amongst me and my friends”. Those who reported success in quitting were significantly more likely to have fewer smokers in their social networks.
Dr Somen Banerjee, Vice Chair of the Association of Directors of Publich Health (ADPH) London Network and London Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Control Lead, said “We want to see more London smokers quitting in 2020 than ever before - and we know that many want to. More than half of those we interviewed talked about quitting that same year, and 83 per cent didn’t see themselves smoking in ten years’ time.
“Stop Smoking London has always highlighted the important role of support in increasing your likelihood of quitting for good – whether that’s through, face to face specialist support, medications, nicotine replacement therapies, apps or a combination of these. Because of the strong influence of social networks on smoking, this time we’re also emphasising that smokers can help one another too.”
There are 50 stop smoking service providers in the Barnet borough, including 39 GP surgeries and 11 pharmacies. Residents can use them to gain six weeks of free one-to-one behavioural support with an advisor, as well as five weeks’ worth of prescriptions for just £9. That represents a saving of around £120 when compared to the over-the-counter price. Find out more: barnet.gov.uk/stopsmoking
Councillor Caroline Stock, Chair of the Barnet Health & Wellbeing Board, said: “Think of the benefits of giving up smoking. You will feel healthier, save money, you’ll have achieved something really amazing and very importantly lowered your risk of developing a smoking related illness.”
Stop Smoking London’s website has a number of tools and resources for people thinking about smoking. Here you can:
- Calculate how much money you could save over the next few months or a year by stopping smoking
- Find the specialist support available in your area
- Learn about the full range of tools and resources to help you to quit for good
- Understand your smoking “triggers” and ways to manage them
- Test your knowledge on the benefits of quitting – take the online quiz
Londoners can also call the Stop Smoking London helpline 0300 123 1044 for more information or to sign up for a 28-day motivational quit programme. Lines are open 7 days a week, from 9am to 8pm weekdays and 11am to 4pm at weekends.