Funding to be doubled for county's quit smoking programme

County Hall runs Quit Ready, which offers a free and confidential 12-week programme to help people stay smoke free. 

It has already helped over 11,000 smokers to quit – which has helped Leicestershire have the lowest rate of smokers in the region.

The government is planning to give the council £660,000 more – doubling its budget - to ramp up support, target key groups and focus on vaping in young people.

Councillor Louise Richardson, cabinet member for health, said: “The latest figures are good news and show that just one in 10 Leicestershire residents smoke.

“This is the lowest rate in the East Midlands. But smoking is still a huge factor in preventable illnesses and death, with pregnant women and children and young people more likely to smoke or vape.

“By recruiting more advisors and specialist support, we can step up this important work and we welcome the Government earmarking this extra money.”

Smokers are shown to be three times more likely to stop if they have support from an advisor.

Each Quit Ready advisor supports around 400 residents throughout the county each year, resulting in over 3,000 people successfully quitting smoking in the last year alone.

There are estimated to be currently more than 53,000 smokers in Leicestershire.

Across the UK, smoking causes one in four cancer deaths and leads to 64,000 deaths per year in England.

For details on Quit Ready Leicestershire, click HERE call 0345 646 66 66 or text ‘ready’ to 66777.