No Smoking Day – It’s never too late to be a quitter!

Smokers in Blackburn with Darwen are being urged to give quitting another go ahead of this year’s No Smoking Day on March 13^th.

The main message this year is: “It’s never too late to quit smoking. Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your health.”

To promote No Smoking Day in the borough there will be a range of activities taking place at Blackburn Rovers Community Wellbeing Hub between 10am and 3pm on the day, with a foraging and wellbeing walk followed by wild food soup.

Active Lancashire will be leading talks on 5 Ways to Wellbeing, with nutrition and Neuro-linguistic programming alongside NHS Talking Therapies to support people who want to stop smoking.

Smoking has a massive impact on a person’s health – up two in three smokers will die as a result of long-term smoking.

Smoking is still the single largest preventable cause of death in England – estimated to account for 64,000 deaths annually.

When you stop smoking, there are almost immediate improvements to your health. It’s much easier to stop smoking when you get the right support and getting expert support from your local stop smoking services means you’re three times as likely to quit for good.

Over 50% of people who sign up to the Stop Smoking Service in Blackburn with Darwen achieve a successful quit after four weeks.

If you’re thinking about stopping, or reducing smoking, in BwD you can access the Stop Smoking Service by visiting one of the participating pharmacies and speaking to a specialist advisor about Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT).

You can also access personalised support, motivation and encouragement from Wellbeing Service Health Trainers by calling (01254) 682037, email: wellbeing@blackburn.gov.uk , or visit our website for a list of pharmacies providing the Stop Smoking Service https://refreshbwd.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stop-Smoking-Service-Screens-November-2023-002.pdf

Councillor Damian Talbot, Executive Member for Public Health, Prevention and Wellbeing, said:

This year’s message is a really important one – it’s never too late to give up smoking. No matter how old you are, you can still make a big difference to your health and your quality of life by quitting.

We know it can be really difficult to stop smoking, but the benefits it brings really makes it worth it. Evidence suggests that people who use stop smoking support are three times more likely to quit than those that go it alone, so please check out our stop smoking services if you are thinking of quitting.”