York smokers can get free one-to-one help, 10 weeks of patches or vapes and the Smoke Free app this Stoptober. A grandfather of 62 explains why he quit.
A York grandfather who smoked for more than 40 years is urging others to quit this Stoptober, after the council’s free stop smoking service helped him give up.
Kevin, 62, started smoking at 18. At one point he was smoking up to 80 cigarettes a day. He smoked his last cigarette on 31 December 2025, using nicotine patches and a vape, with support from the York Health Trainers Stop Smoking Service. His story was published by City of York Council on Monday.
“I woke up every day with a cough and struggled to walk up the stairs,” he told the council. “I really believe that if I hadn’t quit, I wouldn’t have lived for more than another five years.”
Within two weeks, he said, he could get up the stairs more easily and his cough had improved.
What York’s free stop smoking service offers
Stoptober is the national campaign that asks smokers to stop for the 28 days of October. The council says people who get through the 28 days are five times more likely to quit for good.
The service is run by the council’s Health Trainers and is free to all York residents. Its stop smoking page sets out three levels of help:
- Full support: up to 12 weeks of face-to-face or video sessions, with 10 weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), vapes, or both.
- Swap 2 Stop: lighter-touch help through leaflets and online videos, plus a code for a free four-week vape starter kit. Over-18s only.
- The Smoke Free app: free access paid for by Yorkshire Cancer Research, “whilst funding is available”. It includes round-the-clock chat with stop smoking advisers.
The council’s press release says the app offer includes free stop smoking aids worth up to £300 in total: NRT, medication or vapes. To claim it, go to Yes to Quit, download the app and enter a York postcode.
Pregnant women get priority referral and 12 weeks of free NRT. A voucher scheme pays up to £170 to pregnant smokers who complete the programme and become smoke-free, according to the same page.
How to book
Appointments run at the following times:
- Face to face: 9am to 5pm, at leisure centres, GP practices, children’s centres and community centres across the city
- Video or telephone: 8am to 7pm
You can refer yourself through the Health Trainers online form, by calling 01904 553377 or by emailing healthtrainers@york.gov.uk. The service is open to York residents aged 16 and over. Its teenage stop smoking and vaping help is on a separate page.
How many people smoke in York
York smokes less than the national and regional average. In 2025, 6.9% of York adults were current smokers. That compares with 9.5% across England and 11.3% across Yorkshire and the Humber. The figures come from the Annual Population Survey, published in the Local Tobacco Control Profiles by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
The rate has more than halved since 2011, when it was 15.5%. It peaked at 18.7% in 2013. York’s yearly figure comes from a small sample, so it moves around: the 2025 estimate has a margin of roughly 4.7% to 9.0%.
The gap between jobs is wide. In 2025, 17.7% of York adults aged 18 to 64 in routine and manual work smoked. Among managerial and professional workers it was 3.0%, from the same survey.
What it means for you
If you smoke and live in York, help is free and you do not need a GP referral. The council says you are three times more likely to quit with support than on your own. It also estimates that someone smoking 20 a day saves over £2,500 a year by stopping.
“If you’ve tried before, you’re not starting from scratch,” said Dr Emma Hardy, a GP and public health registrar in Yorkshire and the Humber, in the council’s release. “Every attempt counts.”
Councillor Lucy Steels-Walshaw, the council’s executive member for health, said the Health Trainers offer “friendly, free and non-judgemental support”.
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