Grants available to local organisations to help Hampshire go Smokefree by 2030

As part of Hampshire County Council’s drive to reduce the harm caused by smoking in local communities, a series of grants are to be awarded to the county’s district and borough councils, as well as to voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations, to help people quit smoking for good

Nov 1 2024

Grants of up to £50,000 each are available from the Local Authority to support action to tackle smoking, from November 2024 to March 2028.

Approving the funding for the grants, Councillor Russell Oppenheimer, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “These grants underline our strong commitment to tackling the harm caused by smoking robustly.  They form part of our wider Smokefree Hampshire programme which aims to significantly increase the number of Hampshire smokers quitting each year by 2030, from the current 3,500, a year. 

He added: “Smoking remains the single biggest preventable cause of ill health and premature death in England, costing the taxpayer millions and placing a huge burden on the NHS and social care. Therefore, helping people to quit smoking, as well as preventing them from starting in the first place, is absolutely vital.”

With around 4,500 Hampshire residents dying each year, and a further 8,600 admitted to hospital due to smoking related problems, the County Council’s Smokefree programme includes collaborations with local GPs, hospitals, social housing and adult social care providers to boost referrals into the county’s free, expert-led quit smoking service - Smokefree Hampshire. The programme also includes outreach efforts, to engage with people who traditionally do not seek help from formal quit-with-support services. 

Looking ahead, increased support will be available for people smoking in pregnancy, as well as help for children and young people to quit electronic cigarettes (vapes) via a dedicated, free service working through local schools and colleges. This builds on current work to create smokefree sites and provide resources on smoking and vaping for teachers, parents, and carers.

The grant programme, with a total of up to £550,000 for district and borough councils and £300,000 for community groups, will be funded from the Local Authority’s ringfenced Public Health grant. This now includes new designated funding from the Government announced in October 2023 to create a smokefree generation and make smoking obsolete. 

The grant application process and timelines will be published shortly. Any local council or community organisation who wishes to register early interest is asked to email [email protected] in the first instance.