JANE JOHNSON

I had been smoking for 16 years and had tried to quit a couple of times without success.  I tried to cut down, used nicotine replacement therapy in the form of patches, gum and inhalator but still found it hard to quit.

I saw a FagEnds leaflet in my G.P’s surgery and had previously seen an advert in my local paper to access a support group. I spoke to my G.P who advised me to pop along to my local group as no appointment was necessary.  I had suffered from chest infections and asthma and felt I needed extra help to quit.  I started a course of patches again but found this time the group and the advisors gave me the confidence the support and the determination to quit.  I found listening to other people’s experiences in the group also very supportive and I was able to share my own knowledge and experiences with them.  I found it really useful to discuss healthy eating and different coping mechanisms whilst attempting to quit.

Being a sufferer of depression I appreciate the fact that FagEnds offer on-going support for as long as needed.  I have now successfully quit for ten months and will never go back to smoking.  I still have added support from the helpline which helps me out of hours and I am able to drop in the group whenever I need to.

I will continue to encourage my friends and college colleagues to access the Fagends service, especially with the stop smoking ban from 1st July 2007.

Thank you FagEnds