The national newspapers report that more than 150,000 people gave up smoking around the time of the smoking ban last July. This is excellent news and if you’re thinking about quitting, don’t forget 12th March is national No Smoking Day.

On hand to help you stop and hopefully stay stopped is Wirral Stop Smoking Service which offers free, confidential advice and support at venues across the borough. Apparently, you’re four times more likely to stop smoking successfully with NHS support.

Stopping smoking isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it’s got to be worth a try. Some people attempt it several times before they succeed. But that doesn’t matter - as long as they do it in the end.

And everyone has a reason for wanting to quit. It might be because your family is desperate for you to stop, you want to save money or you’re worried about your health. Whatever the reason, give it a go if you are serious about it.

I lost a member of my family to cancer and it didn’t stop me smoking when I was younger.

Setting light to my hair as I lit one up during a ‘phone call didn’t put me off either.

And I was no closer to quitting even after setting my desk on fire after the drawer closed shut on an unfinished cigarette.

I’ve done what so many smokers have done over the years… trudged the streets on Christmas Day desperate to top up my dwindling supply because - heaven forbid – I should run out before Boxing Day!

What finally did it for me was being caught red-handed behind the garden shed …caught in mid-drag by one of my three children. And what a hypocrite I’d been anyway - advising them not to “start that filthy habit’ when I was such a sucker for nicotine.

Was it easy quitting? Not particularly. I lapsed occasionally, especially when I had a drink in my hand. I bought chewing gum by the bin load, accepted the fact that my weight might increase (fortunately it didn’t too much) and spent a lot of spare time cleaning to avoid munching on biscuits. My home and my teeth gleamed.

Do I miss the cigarettes today? Not in the slightest. And it’s even less of a temptation now that smoking is banned in public places. I occasionally go out with two very good friends who smoke and many a night since last summer’s ban I’ve sat waiting for them to come in from the cold.

As I see it, I’m an ex-smoker not a non-smoker so I’m not going to criticise anyone for smoking because I know what a hold it had on me. But if anyone says they want to stop, I’d be the first to say Give it a go.

Good luck if you are planning to quit. And if you’re successful, feel free to share your stop smoking tips here

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit