Smoking Survivors

Smoking Survivors  is our current campaign first launched in 2023 to highlight the shocking, raw and life-changing experiences from former smokers in the North East.

Our latest message launched in New Year 2026 carried the message that “every cigarette takes 20 minutes off your life – but quitting gives life back.”

Our films feature John, who suffered a heart attack from smoking aged just 48, and Cathy and Sue who were diagnosed with cancer from smoking while still in their 40s. We have also featured the stories of throat cancer survivor Tony, Maggie, who underwent surgery for mouth cancer, and Debbie and Sadie who lost their husband and father Denham to COPD.

All our survivors have bravely shared their emotional, at times graphic but also hopeful and inspirational stories to encourage people who smoke right across the region to “make a fresh quit”.

Our call to action is to encourage people to “put smoking behind you”, tying in with the vision of a smokefree future. We offer support via the regional quitting hub for tips and local stop smoking service support at FreshQuit.co.uk.

Smoking Survivors” is NHS branded and first ran in June 2023 and has now ran:

  • On television across ITV, ITVX (TV catch up)
  • Radio (Capital, Smooth, Hits Radio, Greatest Hits Radio) and Facebook with supporting PR and social media
  • Outdoor media on sites across the region (see examples below)
  • Facebook and Instagram

Reasons to quit

Keep trying to quit

Denham's story

Cathy's story

Sue's story

Smoking survivors has been one of the most positively received campaigns Fresh has ran with both regional and national acclaim, and with wide recognition and impact across areas and ages.

We have seen strong engagement with the campaign from partners, with many local authorities and NHS teams integrating the campaign into their own local plans. DHSC also used Sue’s film as part of a successful national campaign which found this increased the feeling of urgency among many people towards quitting.

An evaluation survey of 1300 smokers and recent quitters in the North East and North Cumbria reported:

  • 4 in 5 NE smokers wish they had never started smoking, and 7/10 wish they could quit
  • 83% of smokers or recent quitters now recall the campaign – most remembered TV. This is the highest level of awareness we have seen for a campaign.
  • 91% found it easy to understand
  • 68% said it made them wish they didn’t smoke – only 16% did not experience an increase in desire to be a non-smoker
  • 67% were more concerned about smoking
  • 59% were more motivated by the benefits of quitting
  • 53% took an action towards quitting – from making a quit attempt to cutting down, to switching to vaping

31% of smokers who saw the campaign cut down – 17% cut down a lot

11% of smokers tried to quit

14% switched to vaping – with 5% switching completely

53% in total who recalled the campaign took an action towards quitting – from trying to stop, switching to cutting down to talking to a partner or health professional

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