Residents in H&F now have a new way to kick smoking. Alongside the popular face-to-face Kick-It service, a new Stop Smoking London helpline offers a convenient way for residents to get professional help to quit.
Through the council-funded phone line, trained advisers will work closely with local smokers, to understand their smoking habits and help them find the best possible ways to stop for good.
Some smokers will be directed to local services, while others will get ongoing telephone-based support, making the service easy, convenient and personalised.
The Stop Smoking London Helpline
For help, Londoners can call 0300 123 1044 seven days a week, Monday to Fridays from 9am to 8pm and on Saturday and Sunday between 11am and 4pm.
The professional advisers will direct smokers to help in their local area, or offer them the opportunity of telephone-based support.
“Smoking is no good for anybody except large tobacco companies,” said Cllr Ben Coleman, H&F Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, “If residents want to give up, we hope this will help.”
In the last five years, national smoking rates have fallen from 20.2 per cent to a current level of 15.5 per cent, but H&F would like to see that figure drop even further.
The latest figures show that if current quitting trends continue*, London is on track to have no smokers by 2030.
The Stop Smoking London helpline has been funded by H&F and 29 other London boroughs in partnership with the Association of Directors of Public Heath (ADPH) in London.
For more information about the range of support available, visit www.stopsmokingportal.com.
Stoptober
This month, many smokers will attempt to quit the habit as part of the national campaign Stoptober.
As well as the Stop Smoking London Helpline, H&F Council’s Kick-It service offers face-to-face help with quitting and will be running outreach events across the borough throughout October. Visit the Kick-It website for more details.
*Latest official figures from the Annual Population Survey (Local Tobacco Control Profiles) show smoking prevalence in London was 15.2 per cent in 2016, and declining at a rate of three percentage points every four years which would put prevalence below the target of five per cent by 2030.
