No Smoking Day

This article is about the United Kingdom day. For the Irish day, see National No Smoking Day. For the international day, see World No Tobacco Day.
No Smoking Day
Observed byUnited Kingdom[1]
DateSecond Wednesday in March
2025 dateMarch 12  (2025-03-12)
2026 dateMarch 11  (2026-03-11)
2027 dateMarch 10  (2027-03-10)
2028 dateMarch 8  (2028-03-08)
Frequencyannual

No Smoking Day is an annual health awareness day in the United Kingdom which is intended to help smokers who want to quit smoking.[2] The first No Smoking Day was on Ash Wednesday[3] in 1984,[4] and it now takes place on the second Wednesday in March.[5] Martin Raw, a tobacco-cessation researcher, was involved in the creation of No Smoking Day.[6]

Each year, the campaign is promoted with a theme in the form of a short phrase. In 2010, this theme was "Break free", encouraging smokers to break free from the chains of cigarettes and quit on No Smoking Day.[7] The 2011 theme was "Time to quit?".[8] Research conducted by GfK NOP following the 2009 campaign found that 1 in 10 smokers quit on No Smoking Day. In 2011, Parliamentary notices for the campaign reported that almost 750,000 smokers made an attempt to quit on No Smoking Day.[9] In a 2023 the national No Smoking Day theme that year was “Stopping smoking improves your brain health”, with discussion focusing on the increased risk of dementia in smokers.[10] The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) urged smokers in 2024 to make an attempt to quit for No Smoking Day and the DHSC adapted a regional “Smoking Survivors” TV and radio advert together with Fresh as part of the national campaign.[11]

The campaign was run by a charity of the same name, based in London with four full-time staff,[12] until this was merged with the British Heart Foundation in 2011.[13] In December 2012 after the merge, it was removed from the charity register.[14] It is funded by a coalition of governmental and voluntary sector organizations, with an interest in health. No Smoking Day's most recent President was entrepreneur, TV personality, and anti-tobacco campaigner Duncan Bannatyne OBE. Bannatyne is an ex-smoker who publicly took on British American Tobacco at its AGM in April 2008.[15][16]

The Charity Commission record for the charity lists total income of £177,314 and total expenditure of £452,564 for the financial year ending 31 March 2012.[17][18]

A 2009 study found the campaign to be "an extremely cost-effective public health intervention".[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "No smoking day 2017 | NHS inform". Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  2. ^ [email protected] (2021-03-10). "No Smoking Day - 10th March". Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  3. ^ "National No Smoking Day - National Awareness Days Calendar & Download 2017". National Awareness Days Calendar & Download 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-04-15. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  4. ^ "No Smoking Day". Days Of The Year. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Stub it out this national No Smoking Day | City Of Wolverhampton Council". www.wolverhampton.gov.uk. 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  6. ^ Brindle, David (2024-05-14). "Martin Raw obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  7. ^ "Smokers, do you want to break free? asks Public Health Agency | HSC Public Health Agency". www.publichealth.hscni.net. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  8. ^ "Women twice as likely to quit smoking than men". News Powered by Cision. 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  9. ^ "NO SMOKING DAY 2012 - Early Day Motions - UK Parliament". edm.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  10. ^ "National No Smoking Day - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. 2026-01-04. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  11. ^ "Urgent call to smokers to make a quit attempt for No Smoking Day". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  12. ^ "Embargoed press release: White van man struggles to quit". News Powered by Cision. 2010-03-09. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  13. ^ "No Smoking Day and British Heart Foundation to merge". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  14. ^ "NO SMOKING DAY - Charity 1006714". prd-ds-register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  15. ^ "The Dragon breathes fire". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Dental news" (PDF). Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  17. ^ "NO SMOKING DAY - Charity 1006714". prd-ds-register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  18. ^ "NO SMOKING DAY - Charity 1006714". prd-ds-register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  19. ^ Kotz, D.; Stapleton, J. A.; Owen, L.; West, R. (2011-07-20). "How cost-effective is 'No Smoking Day'?". Tobacco Control. 20 (4): 302–304. doi:10.1136/tc.2009.034397. ISSN 1468-3318. PMID 20472574.
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