No Smoking Day is an annual health

awareness day Lists of holidays by various categorizations. Religious holidays Abrahamic holidays (Middle Eastern) Jewish holidays *Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened bread, Unleavened Bread – 7 days of consumption of matzo with wine and avoidance ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

which is intended to help smokers who want to

quit smoking Smoking cessation, usually called quitting smoking or stopping smoking, is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is addictive and can cause dependence. As a result, nicotine withdrawal often make ...

. The first ''No Smoking Day'' was on Ash Wednesday in 1984, and it now takes place on the second Wednesday in March. 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''. The 2011 theme was "Time to quit?". Research conducted by GfK NOP following the 2009 campaign found that 1 in 10 smokers quit on No Smoking Day. The campaign was run by a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

of the same name, based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with four full-time staff, until this was merged with the British Heart Foundation in 2011. It is funded by a coalition of governmental and

voluntary sector The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit ...

organizations, with an interest in health. No Smoking Day's most recent President was entrepreneur, TV personality, and anti-tobacco campaigner

Duncan Bannatyne Duncan Walker Bannatyne, (born 2 February 1949) is a Scottish entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author. His business interests include hotels, health clubs, spas, media, TV, and property. He is most famous for his appearance as a business a ...

OBE. Bannatyne is an ex-smoker who publicly took on British American Tobacco at its AGM in April 2008.

References

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External links

No Smoking Day
Health awareness days Smoking in the United Kingdom March observances Wednesday observances Observances in the United Kingdom Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) Tobacco control

See also

References

External links