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‘Easyway’ to Quit for Reading Smokers

  • Reading smokers offered effective route to quitting smoking 
  • Allen Carr seminar usually costs £379 but is being offered for free by the Council

Reading Borough Council (RBC) is offering smokers in Reading a new free and effective way to kick the habit with Allen Carr’s Easyway method.

The approach uses a mix of a one-day seminar, online or in-person, and follow up phone and email support for those who need it – helping millions of people break free of cigarette addiction and feel great to be a non-smoker.

The approach is drug-free and instead aims to change the way smokers think and feel about cigarettes.

The success rate at Allen Carr’s Easyway Centres is over 50%, even after 12 months 1.

Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the UK.   Smoking not only affects your health and that of others around you, but also costs you, the NHS and social care money. Action on Smoking & Health have calculated that the total cost of smoking to society in Reading alone is in the region of £165m per annum.

While the number of smokers in Reading and nationally continues to fall, approximately 20,000 people in Reading still smoke.

In 2023/24, Smokefreelife Berkshire successfully helped 426 people to stop smoking.

The new quit option:

  • bolsters the Council's existing Smokefreelife Berkshire Service
  • offers another way for people to be supported to quit – even if you have tried to stop before, it is worth revisiting what route works for you with our free stop smoking support
  • is used by many other councils and endorsed by NICE and the World Health Organisation

Ruth McEwan, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Education & Public Health, said:

“Most people who smoke regret ever picking up their first cigarette and starting down the road of nicotine addiction. It’s an incredibly hard habit to break.

“Allen Carr’s Easyway method has a track record of helping people stop smoking. I’m excited to see the results from making this clinically-proven intervention available to our residents to help them quit, enjoy better health, wellbeing and save money.

“We know smokers are four times more likely to stop smoking with expert support than going 'cold turkey'. We also know that different approaches work for different people, so with the help of this extra quit route, we hope to help even more residents discover kicking the habit”.

Live in Reading and want to stop smoking?

  • Book a FREE place on an Allen Carr’s Easyway seminar (usually £379) in Reading here
  • For general advice on going smokefree, visit SmokefreelifeBerkshire

Media Contact: Chloe Reynolds 07803 408757

Notes to editors

  1. UK Clinical Trial finds Allen Carr’s Easyway as good as, if not better than, the Gold Standard NHS Programme which uses NRT & 1-1 psychological support.
    Frings D, Albery IP, Moss AC, Brunger H, Burghela M, White S, and Wood KV (2020) Comparison of Allen Carr’s Easyway programme with a specialist behavioural and pharmacological smoking cessation support service: A randomised controlled trial. Addiction 115: doi: 10.1111/add.14897
  2. 19,800  smokers  in Reading – Action on Smoking and Health Ready Reckoner, 2024 https://ashresources.shinyapps.io/ready_reckoner/
  3. The free Allen Carr Easyway seminars are being funded by Reading Borough Council through the smoke free generation grant. For further information visit Local stop smoking services and support: funding allocations and methodology - GOV.UK