Southport No Smoking Day (11th March)

As part of this year’s No Smoking Day (March 11), Sefton Council is encouraging smokers across the borough to be ‘Proud to be a Quitter’.

This year’s theme for the annual event, now in its 32nd year, is set to inspire smokers to use No Smoking Day as the day they quit.

Everybody has their own personal reason for wanting to give up smoking. Some people give up as part of a larger lifestyle change – to be healthier, to get fit, or to save money. For some, it’s more about how their smoking affects the people around them – their family, friends, and little ones.

It’s a well-known fact that smoking shortens the life of a smoker, literally taking years off. But by quitting you can get many of those years back – if not all of them.

According to the calculator the average 25-year-old male smoker in Britain – who smokes 12 cigarettes a day and started smoking at 16 – would get back 6.23 years of life if he quit today.

Think of all the things you could do in the six years. There’s no time like the present to quit the deadly habit of smoking.

Cllr Paul Cummins, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Older People and Health, said: “Smoking still remains the single biggest cause of preventable deaths in the UK and stopping is the single most important thing you can do for you and your family’s life.

“In Sefton thousands have used SUPPORT, the local stop smoking service, to quit and we are hoping this year’s No Smoking Day, will encourage even more residents take advantage of the free help and advice they offer.”

If you smoke No Smoking Day is a great opportunity to make a change and quit for good. Quitting this March will immediately result in health improvements including a better sense of smell, taste and more energy. Longer term ex-smokers reduce their risk of stroke, heart disease and lung cancer, as well as protecting others from second-hand smoke.

For more information call Healthy Sefton on 0300 100 1000, alternatively you can get regular stop smoking service updates by following SUPPORT on Twitter @SeftonSUPPORT or find them on Facebook.

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