Be inspired to reclaim your life this No Smoking Day

It’s never too late to try – and there’s more free support available via Kent County Council (KCC) than ever before.

So if you’re one of Kent’s 145,000 smokers, make a date to kick the habit along with thousands of others this No Smoking Day on Wednesday 12 March. As KCC’s no smoking campaign says: ‘It’s well worth it’.

But don’t rely on willpower alone. Smoking is a powerful addiction and you treble your chances of quitting with the right support. Visit kent.gov.uk/smokefree to find the best quit route for you, now including the Allen Carr’s Easyway method!

The theme of this year’s annual national stop smoking awareness day, ‘Take your life back’, echoes our local campaign because when you quit:

• you improve your overall health – on average, every cigarette smoked steals 20 minutes from your life. Quitting reduces your risk of premature death, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and many other serious illnesses
• you put money in your pocket – quitting can save you hundreds, even thousands, of pounds each year to spend on the things that really matter
• you improve your quality of life – you'll breathe easier, smell better and have more energy so you can keep up with the kids or simply be more active

KCC Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, Dan Watkins, said: “The number of smokers in Kent is generally falling but around one in nine still light up and some local communities have seen a recent increase in cigarette use.

“Given the high price smokers pay for their habit in terms of health, wellbeing and money, it’s still one in nine too many living with an addiction they never wanted. The good news is there is more support than ever to stop smoking – just check out kent.gov.uk/smokefree.”

Kent County Council’s Director of Public Health, Dr Anjan Ghosh, said: “Smoking is the world’s leading cause of preventable disease and reduced life expectancy.

“It disproportionately increases the risk of dementia, Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, respiratory conditions and cancers for those facing the greatest challenges to be healthy. It also adds to cost-of-living pressures, often for those least able to afford a tobacco addiction.

“This No Smoking Day we want everyone to know there is a range of quitting support available, free of cost.”

Kent resident Michal Gaw smoked for 17 years from the age of 17. Even complications from COVID-19 didn’t convince him to ditch cigarettes. “I was never actually brave enough to try and do it”, he said.

But a desire to protect his children from harmful secondhand smoke finally helped him go smokefree.

Michal said: “My number one motivator was my kids and improvement in their health. Number two was improvement in general activities and also wellbeing.”

He added: “Everybody feels (being) smokefree at home is a massive achievement. I don’t prioritise cigarettes so I can prioritise playing with my kids, or even doing some housework. I have a lot more ideas to keep myself busy.”

Michal can also run for longer and quicker since quitting – and his diet is better. “Normal breakfast for me was coffee and a cigarette,” he recalled. “Now I will actually have some food which means that at 10am I still feel ok and am not starving.”

Michal’s advice to anyone wanting to quit is “Just do it! The first step is the hardest but the support through One You Kent was very good in terms of consistency and having a person in place I could have a conversation with about how to distract myself when, let’s say, it’s a cigarette time of the day. The carbon Monoxide readings we were taking – that’s an eye opener! How much of the toxins we have in our lungs when we do smoke and when we do stop how quickly you can improve on that as well. All that tracking is very helpful.”

Watch Michal tell his journey to being smokefree: Stop Smoking Service - Michal's Story.