Kirkby mum quit her 25-a-day smoking habit after family members died from lung cancer

Rachel, 40, used a free specialist support service commissioned by Nottinghamshire County Council to help her stub out smoking.

Your Health Your Way is a health and wellbeing service operated by ABL Health which helps people to get more active, eat healthier, lose weight, drink less alcohol and stop smoking.

It has received 3,000 referrals to its stop smoking service during the pandemic, with 65 per cent having successfully gone on to quit the habit.

The service offers a range of one to one and drop-in sessions as well as telephone and digital support and includes a full range of free nicotine replacement therapy alongside weekly support from stop smoking advisors.

Health chiefs say the service aims to support people to understand why they smoke, manage their cravings and deal with relapses.

Rachel received weekly telephone calls from her trained stop smoking advisor and opted for nicotine replacement patches and gum to help her.

She said: “I quit in the past easily when I was pregnant with my kids but started smoking again when the baby was born. I never manage to quit for good before.

“This time I got continuous support and encouragement to continue and right choice of products and my motivation was different, I was stopping for the unborn baby as I didn’t want to cause harm to the baby.”

Rachel accessed the Your Health Your Way 12-week quit programme and found the support of a ‘non-judgmental’ advisor a key factor in her quitting.

She said: “I found it useful having an advisor ringing me every week to check my progress and provide weekly support. My advisor was non-judgmental, and I felt like I would talk to her about anything.

“I have changed my routine; I keep myself busy. I have breakfast with my kids instead of going out to have a cigarette in the morning. I am sleeping much better and have more energy.

"The best advice was given to me, continue with your attempt even though I had couple of difficult days, set a quit date and stick to it.”

Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.