Smokers in Bath and North-East Somerset are being encouraged to swap cigarettes for vapes with a free vape kit offered by the council’s Stop Smoking Service.

The free ‘Swap to Stop’ offer includes a refillable vape device, a four-week supply of e-liquids, and other essentials needed to start the switch from cigarettes to vaping.

Data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has shown that over half of ex-smokers who quit in the last five years have said they used a vape in their last quit attempt, which is 2.7m ex-smokers.

Swap to Stop is a world-first national scheme in which almost one in five of all smokers in England will be provided with a vape starter kit to help them quit smoking. It is a part of a series of measures to help the government meet its ambition of being smokefree by 2030, reducing smoking rates to 5 per cent or less.

Becky Reynolds, director of public health for Bath & North-East Somerset Council (B&NES), said, “There is strong evidence that vaping helps people to quit smoking and it’s less harmful than smoking.

“We are really pleased to be part of the national Swap to Stop programme in B&NES which means local smokers have an opportunity to try vaping at no cost to themselves. We know how difficult it is to quit smoking and most smokers will have tried many times. Vaping is currently the most popular and most effective way to quit so I encourage smokers in B&NES to take up this great offer.”

Brenda, a B&NES resident and ex-smoker, said, “I attended the specialist ‘Stop Smoking’ clinic for support when I was given a code to get a free vape kit and the advisor also recommended some patches.

“I am smokefree and doing well. The vape is helping a lot and I find the patches also help. I coughed at first when using the vape, but it got better as I became used to it.”

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