A former smoker
from High Green, who has saved £12,000
since he quit the habit eight years ago
is urging city residents to give up smoking
on World No Tobacco Day – Monday May
31st.
With the money he
has saved from giving up his 25-a-day habit,
Nigel Grice, 48, has learnt to ski and goes
on a skiing holiday every year.
The father-of-two,
said: “Giving up smoking ranks among
the top five things I have ever done in
my life. Physically I feel miles better,
psychologically I feel great, socially I
feel more accepted and financially the benefits
are huge.”
He added: “I
have so much more money to spend –
As well as learning to ski, I buy clothes
and things for my family that I couldn’t
have afforded before.”
Mr Grice, a sales
rep, said he would urge others to give up
smoking. He now helps the Sheffield NHS
Stop Smoking Service by sharing his experience
with smokers who are trying to give up at
quit groups in Stocksbridge and Hillsborough.
He said: “When
I wake up one of the first things that comes
into my mind is that I have stopped smoking
– eight years on I still get a buzz
from that every day.”
New research shows
smokers in Yorkshire and Humberside spend
£631m a year on cigarettes. The average
smoker puffs on 14 cigarettes a day and
spends over £1,000 a year on tobacco.
But 40-a-day smokers spend three times that
with over £3,000 of their annual income
going up in smoke.
Chantil Wood, of
the Sheffield NHS Stop Smoking Service,
said she often discusses the financial benefits
of giving up with those who want to quit.
She said: “Smokers
are often very shocked when they add up
the figures and realise they spend more
on their habit than they do on household
basics. When they find out how much they
could save they find it a powerful motivation
to stop.”
Currently health
bosses in Sheffield are drawing up plans
to encourage shops, leisure facilities,
bars pubs and restaurants to voluntarily
provide more smoke free areas in public
places.
The Smoke Free Sheffield
campaign hopes 50 shops, businesses, pubs,
bars and restaurants will sign up to the
scheme in the first year in a bid to prompt
more smokers to quit the habit.
Anyone who
would like free advice and help to give
up smoking can contact the Sheffield NHS
Stop Smoking Service on 0800 068
4490.  |
