A SCHEME which has helped thousands of people quit smoking is celebrating ten years of supporting people to kick the habit.

The South Essex Stop Smoking Service, founded in 2001, has helped more than 20,000 people stop smoking.

As a result, the number of smokers over the age of 18 in Southend, Rochford and Castle Point, has been cut from 26 per cent, in 2001, to 21 per cent.

Helping people through group clinics and individual meetings, the free service also offers telephone support and trains pharmacists and other health workers to advise smokeers on how to quit.

Stop Smoking adviser Diane Fredericks said: “People come to us for a number of reasons.

“Many want to quit for health reasons, especially older people who are beginning to feel the bad effects of smoking.

“For others, it can be the cost of smoking that prompts them to want to give up.”

A ten-strong team at the service is led by NHS South East Essex.

Mrs Fredericks added: “We run a seven-week group course, helping people prepare for their quit day and the different things they can try for the physical effects, such as taking tablets and wearing patches.

“We then look at the habit side of smoking.

“The group support each other along the way. Together they have more chance of success. With group sessions, our success rate is 75 per cent. For individuals visiting their pharmacists, it can be 45 to 50 per cent.

“Giving up is the best thing you can do for your health and also saves the NHS money in the long term.”

Before she joined a Stop Smoking group Janet Cutts was smoking up to 25 cigarettes a day, which cost her about £35 a week.

But in 2001, having smoked for 36 years after taking up the habit aged 14, she decided it was time to quit for good and joined a six-week course organised by the service.

Janet, of Whitehouse Meadows, Eastwood, said: “We had smoking buddies, who you could call if you were really tempted, which really helped me get through the times I really wanted a cigarette.

Now the cash Janet, 59, has saved by quitting helps her take trips to visit her daughter Sarah, 29, who lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Janet, who works as a cardiographer at Southend Hospital, added: “Sarah had always hated me smoking. When I gave up she was so pleased.”

Life without cigarettes still has its occasional temptations, but Janet remains cigarette-free and proud.

For more information, visit www.southessexstopsmoking service.nhs.uk or call 01702 313705.