A new smoking cessation service from North Yorkshire County Council began in April – offering free targeted support to those who want to quit.
The new Smokefreelife North Yorkshire service is funded by North Yorkshire County Council and will be provided by healthcare innovations company Solutions 4 Health (S4H).
Staff from Smokefreelife North Yorkshire have already been out and about in Scarborough town centre with one the key parts of the new service – the ‘wellness on wheels’ mobile unit. The unit takes support and advice directly into local communities where it’s needed.
Smoking cessation advisor Kerryanne Rushton, from Scarborough, dressed to impress as ‘Nic O’Tine’ while local street entertainer Kevin Hayes flew in as a Superman – to show that local smokers can do something amazing by finding the hero inside themselves to stop smoking. It obviously worked, because in just a couple of hours nearly 45 people signed up there and then for support to stop smoking. It was a great start to the new service, and we believe it heralds a great future for smoking cessation North Yorkshire.
County Councillor David Chance, executive member for public health has said: “Stopping smoking is the single most important thing that people can do to improve their health and save money – and we want to make it as easy as possible for our residents to quit. Smoking contributes to the death of over 800 people in North Yorkshire every year through lung and respiratory problems, cancer and heart disease. The new service from Solutions 4 Health will give a flexible and free to use range of quit options that have been shown to work elsewhere in the country”.
Su Sear, Regional Lead for Smokefreelife North Yorkshire, added: “Smokers in Scarborough really welcomed us and were very pleased to hear that we’re going to be there to help them improve their health and well being. Smokers are four times more likely to quit successfully when they have professional support, so were going to be out and about in other North Yorkshire towns very shortly. Look out for details on our Facebook page – Smokefreelife-NorthYorkshire.”
The Smokefreelife North Yorkshire service is available seven days a week across the county and additional services include a free telephone Quitline, plus text and email as well as traditional face-to-face support.
