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CTRL-Z is our stop smoking support tailored to children and young adults aged 11-21 to help them go smoke free.

Support for Young People

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<h2 style="white-space:pre-line">What do we believe?</h2>
<p>We believe in a future where the tobacco industry no longer holds power or influence over young people.</p>
<p>We improve the quality of life for young people by using effective and innovative methods based on evidence based approaches to discourage smoking uptake.</p>
<p>We believe that resilience skills, encouraging participation, critical thinking and knowing the facts are essential for young people to increase their confidence and make healthy choices.</p>

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<h3 style="white-space:pre-line">Our interventions aim to reach those aged 12+ and are always flexible to meet needs of group size, age and ability.</h3>

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CTRL-Z workshops fit in well with PSHE and supports Healthy Schools priorities. Available in schools, youth clubs and other community settings.

Workshops are FREE in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames.

Ctrl Z - Workshops

Children as young as 5 used to grow and pick tobacco. This can affect brain development and make them very unwell.

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Recent blog posts

Smoking Advice and Guidance

<p><strong>Many people switch to an e-cigarette (vape) when giving up cigarettes, but there are many myths about them. Are e-cigarettes as harmful as cigarettes? Let’s take a look.</strong></p><h3>Myth 1: E-cigarettes are just as harmful as cigarettes&nbsp;</h3><p><br>Research from Public Health England states that e-cigarettes (also known as vapes) are at least 95% less harmful than cigarettes. &nbsp;</p><p>Tobacco smoke contains harmful substances such as tar and carbon monoxide, which cause serious health problems. E-cigarette vapour does not contain these substances, making vaping a much safer option.&nbsp;</p><h3>Myth 2: E-cigarettes contain nicotine, so they’re still bad for you</h3><p><br>Nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, but it is not the main cause of smoking-related diseases. The thousands of toxic chemicals in cigarettes cause the most harm, not nicotine itself.&nbsp;</p><p>E-cigarettes allow users to control their nicotine intake. Many people gradually reduce their nicotine levels when vaping by choosing lower-strength e-liquids or nicotine-free options.&nbsp;</p><p>For most people, nicotine is not a major health risk. However, it does increase heart rate, which may be a concern for people with heart conditions.&nbsp;</p><h3>Myth 3: Switching to vaping doesn’t help you quit smoking&nbsp;</h3><p><br>Some people continue to vape without quitting nicotine completely, but research shows that vaping can be an effective way to quit smoking.&nbsp;</p><p>A major UK-based clinical trial found that people who use e-cigarettes alongside face-to-face support to quit smoking are twice as likely to quit smoking as those who only use other stop smoking products, such as nicotine patches or gum.&nbsp;</p><p>Using an e-cigarette can be a stepping stone to becoming completely smokefree. The key is to see it as a tool to quit, rather than a replacement for smoking.&nbsp;</p><h3>Myth 4: E-cigarettes are good for you&nbsp;</h3><p><br>While e-cigarettes are a lot safer than smoking tobacco, they are not risk-free. They contain fewer toxins and chemicals than cigarettes, but they are not beneficial to health.&nbsp;</p><p>Vapes should be used as a tool to quit smoking, and people who don’t smoke shouldn’t take up vaping.&nbsp;</p><p>Some research suggests that vaping may contribute to heart and lung issues in some people. However, cases of serious harm have mostly been linked to unregulated ‘black market’ e-liquids and modified devices.&nbsp;</p><p>The UK has strict safety standards for e-cigarettes. Ensure you buy e-cigarettes and e-liquids from reputable sources. If unsure, visit a licensed vape shop to get advice on trusted brands and devices.</p>

Four myths About E-Cigarettes Busted

<p><strong>Smoking is an addiction and quitting cold turkey can be really difficult. Instead, you can focus on making one small change at a time to successfully quit. Here’s how.</strong></p><p>As a smoker, your body will have become dependent on nicotine, which is why stopping suddenly can make going smokefree a challenge. Adopt healthier habits, both around your smoking and your lifestyle and reap the rewards!</p><h3><strong>Making a new habit stick</strong></h3><p><br>It’s all about the little things that add up over time.</p><p>Let’s look at an example: running a marathon. There’s no way you could go from no running to marathon runner without building up to it little by little – setting out to run 26 miles on day one is just going to lead to injury and disappointment.</p><p> The way to do it is to start small, perhaps by walking briskly for a few weeks before progressing to short jogs, then to being able to comfortably run a 5k, and so on.</p><p>It’s the same with quitting smoking. When you decide to quit, you might be tempted to go cold turkey, thinking you’ll never smoke again, and you’ll be fine for the rest of your life. People who do this tend to find their attempts are derailed by strong cravings they don’t know how to deal with.</p><h3><strong>Tips to help build the habit of being smokefree</strong></h3><ul><li>Make small changes and build on your good work every day.</li><li>Write down every reason you can think of for quitting smoking, no matter how small or how personal.</li><li>Keep this list somewhere you can see it often, like on your phone or on paper that you stick on your fridge.<br>&nbsp;</li></ul><h3><strong>How and when you smoke</strong></h3><p><br>Think about how often you smoke and what you’re doing when you smoke. If you have a cigarette as soon as you wake up, a small change you can make is sticking on a nicotine patch (or your nicotine replacement therapy aid of choice, like gum or a lozenge) and having breakfast instead. Do this every day and you’ll soon build up the habit of not smoking in the morning.</p><p>If you smoke when you get home after a stressful day at work, think about how you can better deal with that stress. Can you do something physical instead? Go for a walk or start a new hobby you’ve always wanted to try – it really can make all the difference. That’s another small change that will soon add up to big results.</p><h3><strong>Be kind to yourself</strong></h3><p><br>Smoking may be a big part of your life, and it’s an addiction. If you end up giving in or veering off track, don’t berate yourself. Pick yourself back up and try again. Don’t forget that even the smallest of changes can make a big difference.</p>

Quit smoking, one small change at a time

<p><br></p><p><strong>If you smoke, you’ll know that it’s an expensive habit. But it’s not only your bank balance that’s affected by the cost of smoking. Let’s find out more about some of the other costs linked to smoking.</strong></p><p>Smoking costs a lot, and in more ways than you’d think. We all know a pack of cigarettes is expensive, but charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) estimates that smoking costs society in England £16.5bn a year.</p><h3><strong>The cost to you</strong></h3><p>In 2024, the average cost of a pack of 20 king size filter cigarettes was around £15, and people who smoke in England spent £12.1bn in total on tobacco, averaging £2,338 per smoker. If you’ve smoked like this for 10 years, that’s a whopping £23,380 you’ve spent on cigarettes.</p><p>Cigarettes used to be a lot cheaper. The RPI figure for the average cost of the same pack of 20 cigarettes in 1987 was just £1.43. If we account for inflation, that’s £3.34 in today’s money, so you can see how much the cost has increased.</p><p>This is because we know smoking cigarettes is bad for our health, so the cost of cigarettes is high to try and discourage people from smoking. The cost of cigarettes will continue to rise, so if you keep smoking, you’ll have to pay more and more.</p><h3><strong>The cost to the NHS</strong></h3><p>Smoking is directly <strong>responsible</strong> for a wide range of illnesses. NHS statistics reveal that in one year (2019-2020), 506,100 hospital admissions were attributable to smoking in those aged 35 and over.</p><p>Smoking is one of the biggest strains on our healthcare system, with ASH finding that it costs the NHS £1.82bn a year.</p><p>The cost not only concerns hospital admissions and other treatment for smoking-related illnesses, but the cost of social care too. People who smoke are more likely to require both care in the home and residential care at a younger age than those who don’t smoke.</p><h3><strong>The cost to the economy</strong></h3><p><br>There’s a high cost to the economy too, as workers who smoke are more likely to become ill and out of work while still of working age, costing £27.6bn in missed productivity. There’s also the added cost of missed work due to smoking-related illnesses.</p><h3><strong>The cost to the environment</strong></h3><p><br>It’s not just your health that suffers when you smoke. The environment is also damaged by smoking, with a 2022 report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) detailing the impact cigarettes have on the world.</p><p>According to the WHO’s report Tobacco: Poisoning Our Planet, producing cigarettes takes 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and 84 million tonnes of CO2.</p><p>The tobacco industry’s high carbon footprint contributes hugely to global warming, and the low-income countries where most tobacco is grown sacrifice land and other resources for tobacco when they could be used to grow food for the region.</p><p>That’s not the end of smoking’s impact on the earth – the toxic chemicals in cigarettes are released into the environment, and it’s estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette filters end up in our oceans and rivers, or are littered on beaches, in parks or on pavements. 2 million tonnes of packaging waste is created from cigarettes each year too.</p><p>The impact of smoking on the planet is so big that the WHO calls it not only a health threat, but a threat to human development as a whole.</p>

Support for Young People

What do we believe?

Our interventions aim to reach those aged 12+ and are always flexible to meet needs of group size, age and ability.

Ctrl Z - Workshops

Did you know?

Smoking Advice and Guidance

Four myths About E-Cigarettes Busted

Quit smoking, one small change at a time

The total cost of smoking