The Isle of Wight Council and Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight are working together to support smokers in giving up for No Smoking Day (Wednesday 9th March).
While studies show that two-thirds of smokers want to stop, nearly 1 in 5 UK adults continue to smoke.
Isle of Wight providers of stop smoking services on the Island, Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight – run by Solutions 4 Health – will be on hand with help, support and advice at 2 events today to help smokers choose No Smoking Day as the day they begin their quitting journey.
The team will be at:
- The Pavilion, Victoria Recreation Ground, Ryde, from 10:00 to 13:00
- Ryde Library, Ryde, between 15:00 and 18:00
Specialist stop smoking advisors will be on hand to offer support and FREE Carbon Monoxide tests from their mobile clinic. Additionally, the team can arrange for free of charge medications for those signing up to quit.
As well as its face to face, telephone and online offer, Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight offers the Quit with Bella app, free to download for island residents, providing 24/7 AI powered support, when it is most needed.
Cabinet lead for Adult Social Care and Public Health, Councillor Karl Love, says:
“No Smoking Day is the perfect day to start your quitting journey. It’s a giant, liberating step in making the decision to quit and you’re taking a step closer to a fresh start. I know that giving up smoking is the best thing you can do for your health and those around you. The benefits of stopping can be immediate. – 72 hours after quitting, your breathing starts to improve and your energy levels improve, not least your bank balance!
“It can be hard to quit which is why it is so important to seek support. Healthy Lifestyle Isle of Wight can help support you on this journey with access to local services and resources. So why not, on National No Smoking Day, have a new fresh start as the first step in living an active health and happier life.”
Elizabeth West, Stop Smoking Service Manager at Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight, has said:
“No Smoking Day is the perfect time to motivate people to stop smoking. Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight provides a free, local, tailor-made service to Island residents using both a return to face-to-face clinics, telephone support and online information.
“As smoking remains one of the leading causes of premature death on the Isle of Wight and the UK, providing free support to smokers can help to reduce the risk of people developing smoking related illnesses.
“With support, smokers are more likely to succeed in stopping smoking for good. That is why Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight is regularly out and about on the Island, not just on No Smoking Day, educating smokers on the range of local services and resources available to them.”
Healthy Lifestyles Isle of Wight offers free support to stop smoking online, by telephone or in person. Call 01983 642369, text QUIT to 66777 or visit www.healthylifestylesiow.co.uk/.
Oh for goodness sake!
People need a bit of willpower, and then they can give up.
I used to smoke, and finally decided that it wasn’t good for me, or others around me, made an EFFORT and stopped.
These people should stop whinging about ‘being addicted’ and blaming everyone else. Smoking severe impacts on the bodies healing processes, and is so anti-social.
No, I am not some Evangelical ex-smoker, I just accept the reality of it!
I smoke, and I enjoy it.
I don’t blame people for one of my few vices. And as for being “anti-social”, I am anti-social. It is one of the few pleasures that I can enjoy.
And, who wants to live forever, not me.
Plus the amount of tax that I’ve been paying for the pleasure of smoking more than covers my share of the NHS.
Best thing about waking up in the morning….FAG & COFFEE.
What’s yours, raw egg and a jog ?
i smoke and yes i enjoy it and your right fag & coffee in the morning am not harming anyone but myself so why don’t Healthy Lifestyles pick on fat people and leave us smokers alone