We welcome the government's significant October announcement to create a smokefree generation
This announcement was accompanied by the publication of the command paper ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’.
By 2028 we aim to reduce smoking rates from 14.1 per cent of Luton’s population to under 10 per cent.
Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of ill health and death in our society. Tobacco use affects every aspect of society. Beyond the detrimental effects on health, tobacco also plays a role in poverty, deprivation and health inequality in Luton. Every year:
- the average smoker in Luton spends nearly £2500 on tobacco
- over 1,500 people in Luton are admitted to hospital with smoking-related illnesses
- smokers in Luton create 18 tonnes of waste from consumed and discarded cigarettes
Tobacco free Luton is an alliance of partners who are working together to:
- prevent the next generation of smokers
- support every smoker to quit
- tackling Illegal products: tobacco, vapes and shisha
- promote smokefree environments and policy
Support to quit
Every time you quit, you’re a step closer to success.
Did you know it takes the average smoker 30 quit attempts to succeed? Every time you make a quit attempt you’re a step closer to success. Plus, you’re more likely to stop smoking for good if you join forces with a friend or partner, and three times more likely with support from Total Wellbeing Luton: stop smoking service.
If you live, work or are registered with a GP in Luton they can offer you a free 12 week programme which includes:
- nicotine replacement therapy
- electronic cigarettes
- expert support and online groups for motivation
Make your next quit attempt the one where you quit for good!
Top tips to quit
Text Quit to 60066
Telephone: 0300 555 4152
Email: Total Wellbeing Luton
The hidden harms
Quitting smoking is about more than your health, it’s about the health of your friends, family, neighbours, colleagues and bank balance.
Second hand smoke
Second hand smoke is the smoke you breathe out and the smoke from your lit cigarette.
- the smoke from one cigarette can linger in a room for up to three hours, even with the window or door open
- secondhand smoke particles are so small that 85 per cent of them are invisible and odourless
- second hand smoke contains poisons that are harmful to other members of your household and visitors
- every year about 9500 children are hospitalised due to exposure to second hand smoke
- children exposed to second hand smoke are more at risk of coughs, colds, ear problems and chest infections
The only way to protect your friends and family from secondhand smoke is to keep the environment around them smoke free. The best way to do this is to quit, but if you’re not ready to quit always smoke outside, away from others, and ask visitors to do the same.
Financial cost of smoking
The average smoker spends £50 per week on tobacco, with many Luton residents being in driven in to poverty as a result of smoking. Stopping smoking will allow you to take back control of your health and bank balance.
Total Wellbeing Luton can help with free advice, one-to-one support, and treatment .
Smoking in pregnancy
Carbon monoxide is especially risky to pregnant women, babies and children. It is found in cigarette smoke, including breathing in second hand smoke. Inhaling carbon monoxide starves the body of oxygen which is needed for your baby's growth and development in the womb.
Stopping smoking during pregnancy brings immediate health benefits to you and your baby and reduces:
- Complications during pregnancy, labour and birth
- Stillbirth
- Premature birth and babies being born underweight
- Cot death
You're up to three times more likely to succeed with expert advice and support. Total Wellbeing Luton are ready when you are.
Campaigns and initiatives
Our aim is to reduce smoking rates to under 10 per cent by 2028. To achieve this the Tobacco Free Luton partners will:
- prevent the next generation of smokers
- support every smoker to quit
- tackle Illegal products: tobacco; vapes and shisha
- promote smokefree environments and policy
Protecting little lungs
For a number of years schools have had a smokefree policy in place that covers the buildings and grounds. But what about the school gates and site entrances?
Luton Council’s protecting little lungs campaign aims to protect children from the harms of secondhand smoke by discouraging parents, carers and teachers from smoking near the schools gates and supporting them to quit. We also want to ensure that the use of e-cigarettes (vapes) is made less visible at the school gates.
The campaign aims to:
- reduce exposure to secondhand smoke
- reduce visibility of smoking and vaping
- reduce cigarette-related litter
- support parents, carers and teachers who want to quit
The campaign will include a competition for children to design a banner for their school gates, with a chance to win a prize for themselves and their school.
Social housing
We are committed to supporting every smoker to quit and reducing the barriers to accessing that support. Tenants living in social housing form one of the priority groups for Luton’s tobacco control strategy.
- In Luton the smoking rate for tenants living in social housing is 1.8 times higher than the general population and 3.4 times higher than someone with a mortgage or owning their house outright
- 10,788 adults and 4313 children live in smoking households that fall below the poverty line after smoking costs.
Most tenants want to quit, but find it harder due to higher levels of addition, stress due to hardship and higher rates of smoking amongst their friends and family.
The financial burden that smoking places on social housing tenants is great. By supporting tenants to quit we can help improve their physical, mental and financial health.
We will support our social housing tenants by:
- providing a new Toolkit that will help them on their quit journey
- better publicising our stop smoking service
- increasing accessibility to our stop smoking clinics
- ensuring our staff are trained to offer brief advice to smokers about quitting and signposting to our stop smoking service
If you or someone you know lives in social housing and would like support to quit contact Total Wellbeing Luton can help with freeadvice, one-to-one support, and treatment including e-cigarettes.
Text 2SAVE to 60066
Telephone: 0300 555 4152
Email: Total Wellbeing Luton
Social housing toolkits
Smoke free home pledge
The information you provide will enable Luton Public Health to measure the reach of the toolkit, and monitor how many people in Luton are signing the pledge.
A winner will be drawn from the first 50 individuals who complete a smoke free home pledge and contacted by email.
Smoke free spaces
As part of our five-year tobacco control strategy we are committed to protecting our residents from the harms of second hand smoke. Smoke that it’s breathed out by a smoker and smoke from the end of a lit cigarette. We will also work with employers to ensure that their staff have access to support to quit.
Tobacco strategy
This strategy aims to improve the health of people living in Luton by achieving a 5% reduction in tobacco use. This relies on involvement from a wide range of partners to accomplish this aim and supports other local strategies including Luton 2040 and the Health Inequalities agenda.
Vaping and e-cigarettes
An e-cigarette is a device that allows you to inhale nicotine in a vapour rather than smoke.
E-cigarettes do not burn tobacco and do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most damaging elements in tobacco smoke. They work by heating a liquid (called an e-liquid) that typically contains nicotine, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and flavourings.
Using an e-cigarette is known as vaping. In recent years, e-cigarettes have become a very popular stop smoking aid in the UK. Also known as vapes or e-cigs, they're far less harmful than cigarettes, and can help you quit smoking for good.
They are not recommended for non-smokers. If you don’t smoke, don’t start to vape. Click the link below to for more facts about vaping and e-cigarettes.