A regional campaign asking smokers "What Will You Miss?" launched on Wednesday 23 September 2026 with the support of Swindon Borough Council. It was timed for 100 days before 1 January 2027, when the UK's smokefree generation law takes effect and nobody born on or after 1 January 2009 can ever legally be sold tobacco.
The Swindon figures
The council gave these numbers:
- about 17,900 people in Swindon smoke, 9.3 per cent of the population
- about 230 people in Swindon die each year from smoking-related illnesses, roughly five a week
- in the past year Swindon's Stop Smoking Service handled 1,230 quit attempts and 380 people quit successfully, a rate of 31 per cent
Across the South West, around 6,600 people die each year from smoking-related illness. A survey of more than 1,600 smokers in the region found around two in three had no current intention of stopping.
Who is behind the campaign?
It comes from Smokefree South West, a partnership of 15 local authorities working with the NHS, and ran on television, radio and social media ahead of Stoptober.
Emma Kain, Swindon's Director of Public Health, said: "We know that stopping smoking is hard, because people become dependent on nicotine and the behaviour becomes a habit."
How to get help in Swindon
Support is offered face to face, by phone or online through a programme lasting eight to 12 weeks. Visit www.swindon.gov.uk/stopsmoking or call 01793 465513.
Source: Swindon Borough Council.