Smoking cessation toolkit launched ahead of ‘Stoptober’

Ahead of Stoptober, the annual 28-day quit event, a smoking cessation campaign toolkit has been launched by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Now in its 14^th year, next month's Stoptober celebrates ‘the power of community’ and highlights the support available to help smokers quit successfully.

If an individual can ‘make it to 28 days smoke-free [they’re] five times more likely to quit for good,’ according to the campaign website.

The DHSC toolkit contains both ‘ready to use’ resources and resources that can be customised, including a social media content calendar, posters, digital screens, email signatures, social animations, logos and a wallet card.

All the resources are free to use and a Canva link to the customisable version can be requested from the Partnerships Team at [email protected], allowing pharmacy teams to tailor them to specific audiences.

The campaign website contains real life stories from people who have quit smoking. Stevie said: ‘I smoked for over 25 years, and it wasn’t easy breaking the habit. But what works was choosing a quit date and getting help from my local Stop Smoking Service.

‘I don’t have cravings anymore and will never put a cigarette in my mouth again.’

Heather added: ‘The NHS Quit Smoking app really helped me. I liked seeing my progress. Recording my goals and reading other people’s stories kept me motivated. The daily health achievements made me feel proud. It was great to see how much money I saved too.’

The NHS Quit Smoking app allows users to track their progress, see how much money they are saving, get daily support and find inspiration in others.

According to ONS data from 2023, around 6 million adults in the UK smoked cigarettes, with those aged 25 to 34 having the highest proportion of current smokers.