Stoptober the mass 28-day stop smoking challenge which was launched by Public Health England is back again this year after seeing 160,000 people successfully complete the challenge in 2012.
There is something to be gained by completing this challenge, someone who quits smoking for Stoptober, and doesn’t smoke again, could gain an extra 7 days of life, every 28 days, for the rest of their life.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies explained that along with the health benefits, stopping will save the average smoker over £150 a month and almost £2,000 a year during last year’s Stoptober campaign, a staggering £25 million was saved by the 160,000 people from not buying cigarettes.
“One in two long-term smokers die as a result of smoking, this is the single biggest cause of premature death taking more than 100,000 lives in the UK and costing the NHS up to £2.7 billion each year.” Professor Davies commented.
“Campaigns such as Stoptober, along with the support provided by local stop smoking services, play a huge role in helping people to stop. Whilst smoking prevalence across the country as a whole is falling steadily, it remains high in some parts and is still the biggest cause of premature death with more than 80,000 deaths in England every year.” Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at PHE commented.
Stoptober provides smokers with a range of free support including a new stop smoking pack, a 28-day mobile phone app and text support with daily updates and quitting advice, detailed tools and tips for coping, as well as the encouragement and support from thousands of people quitting together through Stoptober social media.
Stoptober 2013 starts on Tuesday 1 October and runs for 28 days.

To encourage people to sign up and order their packs, ultra-marathon runner and ex 40-a-day smoker Rory Coleman will be running 28 miles a day for 28 days across England and Wales. As part of Rory’s challenge he will be pushing the giant red Stoptober wheel with the help of local armed forces representatives and members of the public.