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Stoptober support from Richmond

Admin

September 24, 2025
3 min read

This October, as part of the nationwide Stoptober campaign, Richmond Council offers support to help residents quit smoking. With free, tailored support from the borough’s Stop Smoking Service, including one-to-one advice, vape starter kits, and nicotine replacement therapy, the “smokers are four times more likely to succeed,” according to a press release from the council.

“From saving thousands of pounds a year to boosting your health within days, the benefits of stopping smoking are immediate,” it said, “and Richmond Council is helping residents take that first step.” Over the past year, it has helped over 170 residents quit smoking for good.

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The benefits of quitting are felt immediately. Within just three days, “breathing and energy levels improve; within weeks, skin and circulation benefit; and within a year, the risk of heart attack is halved.” Quitting smoking could save around £285 a month, nearly £3,500 per year, helping to ease some cost-of-living pressures. Quitting can also protect loved ones from the effects of second-hand smoke.

“Becoming a smoke-free borough by 2030 is one of our key health and wellbeing priorities, and we want every resident who smokes to know that expert support and advice is there to help them to quit,” Councillor Piers Allen, Lead Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Public Health and Chair of the Health & Wellbeing Board, said. “This October is the perfect time to take the first step – and you don’t have to do it alone.”

Throughout Stoptober, stop smoking advisors will be out and about across the borough, including:

On the Health Bus offering advice and support
At the Civic Centre drop-in every Monday, from 10am to 3pm
Co-hosting stalls with St George’s NHS Trust and Springfield Hospital
At the Full of Life Fair for older residents at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on 24 October

Residents can access support by: