New council link-up to help Wigan Borough residents quit smoking the ‘Easyway’
Residents of Wigan can quit smoking for free thanks to a link-up between Wigan Borough and Allen Carr’s Easyway
Smokers in Wigan Borough are being offered a new way to quit this Stoptober thanks to a council link-up with a world-renowned support programme.
More than 3,000 residents have already started their smoke-free journey in the past three years with the council’s Be Well Stop Smoking Service.
Now Wigan Council is doubling down on its assistance for those who want to quit by launching another choice for support with stopping smoking: the highly successful drug-free Allen Carr Easyway method.
Combining online videos and live seminars with cognitive behavioural therapy – and endorsed by both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – it works without the need for patches, gums, inhalators, e-cigarettes or any other medications or nicotine substitutes.
Typically costing £379 per person, the programme will now be available FREE to anyone who lives, works, or is registered to a GP in Wigan Borough.
Councillor Keith Cunliffe, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet portfolio holder for adult social care and health, said: “We’ve made real progress towards making Wigan Borough smoke-free in recent years, with a major focus on prevention and achieving our first smoke-free generation.
“But we’re also doing what we can to support those who do smoke to give up for good and to manage or reduce their risk of long-term health conditions including cancer, heart disease, stroke and COPD.
“Everybody is different and the more choice we can offer smokers who want to quit the better. That’s why, in addition to our Be Well Stop Smoking Service and other options such as Quit Coach and the NHS Quit Smoking app, we’re delighted to be introducing the Allen Carr Easyway to Stop Smoking Method (ACE) here in Wigan Borough.
“ACE is well established around the world and has already helped an estimated 50 million people with stopping smoking, vaping and other addictions over the past 40 years.
“It’s been shown to be cost-effective and is easy to do from home, and many people have been able to achieve real results in the space of just a few hours.
“So, we’re excited our residents can now access support from ACE free-of-charge as we continue our efforts to improve the health of our communities and reduce the burden on the NHS.”
Smoking remains one of the biggest causes of preventable illness and death in Wigan Borough, but the number of residents who smoke – around 37,200 or 11.3 per cent of the adult population – has been falling thanks to local support services, legislation and enforcement.
The recent Tobacco and Vapes Act has will make it illegal (from 1st January 2027) to sell tobacco to anyone born on, or after, 1 January 2009, while the council’s ethical advertising policy restricts advertising that harms physical and mental health.
A recent survey by the council’s trading standards team, who take a proactive approach to illegal tobacco sales, found 97 per cent of 14-17-year-olds had never tried smoking at all.
For those adults who do smoke but want to quit, the Be Well Stop Smoking Service provides free personalised support and nicotine replacement therapy, while its digital stop smoking assistant ‘Quit Coach’ offers guidance and encouragement through WhatsApp.
The Allen Carr Easyway to Stop Smoking Method now gives residents another proven support option, with quitters usually achieving results after just five hours of online video or group seminars.
It can be accessed online via smartphones, tablets or laptops, while participants can also receive support from therapists by email or over the phone.
Published studies have found that more than half of those who try ACE remain smoke-free after 12 months.
Paul Baker, CEO of Allen Carr’s Easyway, said “We are delighted to be helping the smokers and smokers & vapers of Wigan to find freedom.
“The unique drug-free and one-seminar approach is highly successful in the long term and works for everyone, whether long-term or short-term smokers, “heavy” or “light” smokers, and for all demographics and backgrounds because it is delivered in simple English and doesn’t focus on the negatives of the nicotine trap.
“Instead, it helps you understand the illusions and misunderstandings that keep you trapped so that you change how you see smoking and vaping such that there is no feeling of deprivation at the end and there is no willpower needed to be free and stay free.”
Anyone interested in stopping smoking with the Allen Carr’s Easyway method can sign up online here.
To learn more about the Be Well Stop Smoking Service or Quit Coach visit bewellwigan.org/stopsmoking
What programme is right for you?
Both programmes are a form of spoken therapy delivered in simple English with no scare stories or images.
Both cover the illusions of the addiction/issue, question your beliefs, provide insights into why you think as you do, shows you how to gain freedom and changes the way you will think about the addiction/issue so that you can leave free without any feeling of loss or battle of wills.
The in-person group seminars are a live one-day course delivered by trained therapists, all of whom stopped with the method. They are delivered either online via Zoom or at a centre and are in groups of up to 25 people. There are shorter booster seminars that are different to the first seminar for the few that require them. There is also a money-back guarantee.
The online video is a pre-recorded programme that can be streamed to your device. There are two options quit vaping or quit vaping for teens, and they are presented by a therapist who has helped thousands of people to freedom. They can be accessed anywhere and at anytime.
