Millions of people around the UK are expected to take up The Great No Smoking Day Challenge and stop smoking on Wednesday 12 March this year. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, National No Smoking Day will this year challenge smokers to quit for a week. Buckinghamshire’s free NHS Stop Smoking Service will be running lots of events around the county to get smokers to rise to the challenge and use their expert help to quit.

Buckinghamshire events for No Smoking Week include:

Aylesbury area
• Wed 12 March, Aylesbury College (morning) – advisors will be giving out information about the Bucks Stop Smoking Service, handing out free goodies and doing carbon dioxide testing
• Wed 12 March, outpatients entrance for A&E, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, 9am–1pm – come along to talk to advisors on their stand, where they will be handing out information and free goodies
• Wed 12 March, Aquavale Leisure Centre, 2.30–5.30pm – come and meet the Bucks Stop Smoking team for advice, support and more information (as well as introducing yourself to the Bucks Stop Smoking Giant Cigarette!)

Amersham area
• Mon 10 March, Chalfont Campus, Bucks New University, 11am-2pm – advisors on the effects of smoking on oral health will be offering advice to students who want to quit
• Wed 12 March, Amersham Campus, Amersham & Wycombe College (afternoon) – advisors will be providing information about the Bucks Stop Smoking Service, handing out free goodies and doing carbon dioxide testing

Wycombe area
• Mon 10 March, Bucks New University (Queen Alexandra Road), 11am-2pm – advisors on the effects of smoking on oral health will be offering advice to students who want to quit
• Tues 11 March, Bucks New University (Wellesbourne), 1-3pm – – advisors on the effects of smoking on oral health will be offering advice to students who want to quit
• Wed 12 March, Wycombe Hospital – come along to talk to advisors, get a carbon dioxide test and use state-of-the-art ageing simulation programmes to see how smoking will affect the way you age!

Local NHS Stop Smoking Services are proven to be the best way for smokers to quit – they really work and they’re free. Approximately two in three people who use their local NHS Stop Smoking Service are not smoking four weeks later. If smokers also use medicines such as nicotine patches or gum to manage their cravings, they’re up to four times more likely to successfully go smokefree.

For more information about the BSSS, telephone: 0845 270 7222, e-mail stopsmoking@buckspct.nhs.uk or visit the BSSS website at www.smokescape.org