The town centre shop was flooded over the Christmas period when a pipe burst in the premises above the shop. A temporary services will be provided from the Rotherham Community Health Centre until repairs are complete. Other sessions are taking place in venues across Rotherham as usual, including at Rotherham Hospital. A telephone service is also available for clients.

Anyone who has an appointment at the shop is being contacted by the service to advise them of the change of venue and rearrange appointments, where necessary.

Anyone who wants to ‘drop in’ for help and support to quit can do so at the Rotherham Community Health Centre on Greasbrough Road, Rotherham, next to Bailey House. Clients should report to the main reception.

Simon Lister, Stop Smoking Service Manager, said: “The damage to the Quit Shop has been extensive and we expect the repairs to take several weeks. This extremely unfortunate as New Year is the busiest time for the service as many smokers choose to make a fresh start in January. We want to reassure our clients, old and new, that we will be continuing to provide a full service for everyone wanting to quit. You can drop in to the Community Health Centre or contact the service for details on how to access group and one-to-one sessions with our specialist advisors.”

This year’s festive stop smoking campaign is advising smokers not to ‘go cold turkey’ and encouraging them to make New Year resolutions to quit. They are offering free Nicotine Replacement Therapy for people registered with a Rotherham GP to help them successfully stop smoking and achieve their resolution.

Each year thousands of people make a New Year’s resolution to stop smoking and over half of all quit attempts are ‘cold turkey’, where the smoker attempts to quit with willpower alone. Unfortunately this approach is rarely successful.

Stopping smoking is the single greatest influence you can have on your health and the best start you can give yourself to the New Year. With help and support from your local stop smoking service you are more than four times more likely to quit and stay quit than going cold turkey.

A new website – dontgocoldturkey.com – shows the adventures of Rotherham’s very own cold turkey quitter and provide links to more help and support. Stop Smoking advisors and the cold turkey will be in Rotherham town centre in January to provide more information about the campaign and help people wanting to quit to access the advice and support available.

Evidence shows smokers are four times more likely to quit with the Rotherham Stop Smoking Service compared to going cold turkey on your own.

Anyone who would like to stop smoking should telephone 01709 422444 from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm to book an appointment with a Stop Smoking Specialist at a convenient time and venue or speak to your GP.

Remember:

• Each cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals – many of which are highly toxic and over fifty of the chemicals are cancer causing.
• Cigarettes cause wrinkles, yellow teeth, bad breath, psoriasis and lank hair.
• Smokers are more likely to store fat around the waist and upper torso rather than around the hips, which is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, gallbladder problems and (in women) cancer of the womb and breast.
• The financial benefits of stopping smoking are huge with 20 a day smoker saving on average £2,000 per year when quitting.

Contact the Stop Smoking Service on 422444 today and give yourself a healthy start to the New Year.