The Stoptober Challenge: Make October the Month You Quit
If you are a regular smoker you have probably heard of the Stoptober stop smoking challenge. You may be thinking about making your first attempt at the challenge this year. Or, you might have made a Stoptober quit smoking attempt in previous years and are contemplating giving it another go.
Stoptober is the biggest mass quit smoking attempt in the country, so you’ll be part of a community of quitters all in it together. As part of the Stoptober campaign you will also have access to a whole range of tools and resources to help you quit.
So join in this October and feel the benefits of a smoke free life.
What is the Stoptober Challenge?
The Stoptober challenge is a 28 day stop smoking challenge run every October. It is based on research that shows if you stop-smoking for 28 days then you are five times more likely to stop smoking for good.
Stoptober was set up by Public Health England, and has run every year since 2012. To date it has encouraged over one million quit attempts.
The challenge breaks down the quitting process into 28 days to make it more manageable, and gives a handy start-day so you can go through the stop smoking journey with friends, family and like-minded quitters.
How can I take part in Stoptober?
To join the Stoptober Campaign all you have to do is make a quit smoking attempt for 28 days this October. It is as simple as that.
The official start date is the 1st October, but you can join or recruit friends to quit smoking throughout the month.
To take part in the challenge, you don’t have to sign up to anything or pay any money. There is no right or wrong way to quit smoking with Stoptober. You can simply choose an approach that works for you.
This doesn’t mean you have to go it alone or quit cold-turkey though. While a cold-turkey approach might be tempting, research has shown it is often not the best way to quit smoking. In fact, only 3 in every 100 smokers are able to stop smoking permanently this way.
This means a key principle of the Stoptober campaign is to use a support tool or product to increase your chance of quitting smoking over willpower alone.
The Stoptober website offers plenty of tools, resources and advice on products you can use to help you quit. This includes apps, daily emails, a chat-bot, a free support plan, advice on quit smoking products and encouragement from an online community of like-minded quitters!
So whatever approach you take, you can find plenty of support to help you achieve your goal!
Why is Stoptober a good time to give up smoking?
There are lots of reasons Stoptober is great time to quit smoking. One of the most important is quitting smoking is easier with people supporting you. In the UK, 16-18% of smokers make a quit attempt during Stoptober, so you’ll be part of a community of quitters that can help give you the extra nudge to kick the habit for good.
The success of the challenge is also in the numbers, over eight thousand people stopped smoking permanently with the first Stoptober campaign.
How to improve your chance of quitting this Stoptober
If you have decided to make a quit attempt this Stoptober, that is a great first step in starting your quitting journey. However, setting a date to quit doesn’t make resisting temptation any easier when cravings do strike.
Quitting is tough, but there are steps you can take this Stoptober to improve your chances of stopping smoking. Some tips that can help include:
- Write down your reasons to quit – There are lots of reasons to quit smoking, write them down and read them back when you need that extra bit of support.
- Use the help and support available – Quitting smoking is a personal challenge, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it by yourself or without support. There are plenty of support services available to help you quit, and using a quit smoking aid has been shown to double your chances of stopping smoking.
- Have a plan to manage cravings – Our guide to managing cravings when giving up smoking includes practical tips you can follow to boost your chances of quitting.
- Don’t give up on giving up – We are all human, and sometimes we might slip up and relapse into smoking. However, don’t let this derail your quit attempt. You can beat a smoking relapse, and even use it to galvinise your quit attempt!
So, set yourself your own Stoptober challenge this October, and make 2021 the year you quit smoking.
