Smokers in Ilkley and West Yorkshire are being offered access to a free app to help them quit.
As part of the new ‘Turn the Corner’ campaign, the Centre of Excellence in conjunction with all 15 local authorities, across Yorkshire and Humber and Yorkshire Cancer Research, is urging smokers to get free quit support to help them stop smoking, including downloading the Smoke Free app.
West Yorkshire residents can get six months’ free access to all the features on the app which helps people control cravings, monitor health improvements and money saved, and even chat to a stop smoking expert 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This also includes stop smoking aids as part of the campaign (nicotine replacement therapy, medication, vapes) worth up to an overall total £300.
Richard Webster from Horton in Bradford quit smoking after the birth of his son and used both Zyban tablets and the Smoke Free app.
He said:
“My stop smoking advisor recommended the Smoke Free app and I can honestly say without it I don’t think I’d still be quit.
“Whenever I had a craving, I’d go on the app and look at how much money I’d saved and how many cigarettes I hadn’t smoked for motivation. I’d also read and reply to other people’s posts in the community which made me feel like I wasn’t doing it by myself. And by the time I’d done that the craving would have passed.
“I was a heavy smoker, so I’ve saved more than £8,000 in the 17 months I’ve been quit. If I hadn’t stopped, I think we’d be really struggling with the cost of living right now.
“Quitting smoking has been life changing for me, I cannot stress enough what a difference it has made to my life. I’d urge anyone thinking of quitting to do it for themselves. You need to be in the right mindset before attempting to quit and make use of the free help and tools out there.”
Quitting smoking not only improves health, but it can lead to significantly more money in your pocket – since the average person who smokes spends over £2,000 every year on smoking.
Craig Blundred, Director of Public Health for Bradford, said:
“Smoking is an addiction that is uniquely harmful in that it kills two in three long term users. Across West Yorkshire, smoking rates are still stubbornly high at 12.4% of the population (approx. 235,000) in comparison to the national average of 10.4%. We know that most people who smoke want to quit, and its great time to try as there is so much support available.
“There are more ways to quit than ever before, including face to face or telephone support from our friendly, expert stop smoking services who can provide you with free stop smoking items like patches, vapes, inhalators, or medication, along with advice in each weekly session to keep you accountable, celebrate your achievement, or help you back on track if you stumble.
"The Smoke Free App is another option, and particularly helpful if you work shifts, are limited for time or have young children, as if offers 24/7 access to talk to an advisor, sort out stop smoking items or medication and get extra support on your phone at a time to suit you."
If you live in West Yorkshire, visit www.yestoquit.co.uk for links to your local stop smoking service, or to download the Smoke Free App.
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