South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 12/03/2014

One in five UK adults smoke, including 17 per cent or around 46,000 smokers in South Gloucestershire. But studies show around two thirds of smokers want to quit.

This year’s No Smoking Day has a ‘V for Victory’ theme which is set to inspire hundreds of thousands of smokers to win the fight against cigarettes. On 12 March, staff from South Gloucestershire Council will create a ‘V for Victory’ shape at Yate Leisure Centre in keeping with the British Heart Foundation’s campaign. More details at www.nosmokingday.org.uk/

They will be joined by staff from the Leisure Trust and Avon Fire & Rescue Service.

The campaign will help smokers on the road to victory, providing information, support and encouragement to put together a personal battle plan so that they are in the best possible position to make a successful quit attempt on the day.

Dr Mark Pietroni, Director of Public Health, said: “No Smoking Day is a great opportunity for us to encourage and support smokers in South Gloucestershire to quit alongside hundreds of thousands of other people across the UK. We know that quitting isn’t easy but we want to reassure smokers that support is available to them and that they can win the battle against cigarettes.

“There’s a much higher chance of succeeding with support and this is why South Gloucestershire Council is spreading the word to smokers about the range of services and resources which are available to them. Our activity is crucial to helping smokers on the road to victory and towards a healthier and wealthier smoke-free life.”

If you want help to stop smoking, we will be running a drop-in session at Yate Fire Station from 5.30pm on No Smoking Day. If you are unable to make it to Yate, there are trained Smokefree advisors in all GP surgeries and selected pharmacies and community venues in Patchway, Staple Hill, Cadbury Heath, Filton, Yate and Kingswood. Call 01454 865502 for more information or visit www.southglos.gov.uk/smokefree

The annual campaign is run by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and encouraged one million smokers to make a quit attempt last year.

Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director at the BHF, said: “Our ‘V for Victory’ message is set to inspire smokers to win the battle against cigarettes even if they’ve already attempted to quit in the past.

“Quitting smoking is the single best thing people can do for their health and we want to arm smokers with information and support that will send them on the road to victory. We’re encouraging smokers to mark Wednesday 12 March in their diary to join hundreds of thousands of other quitters in attempting to stub out cigarettes for good.”