Crowborough smokers can get free vapes, patches and a quit mentor through One You East Sussex. A new county guide shows friends how to start the conversation.

Anyone in Crowborough who smokes can get free e-cigarettes, nicotine patches and one-to-one help from a quit mentor, paid for by East Sussex County Council. The council now wants the rest of us to tell them so. Its public health team has published a short guide, written with the not-for-profit communication research group FrameWorks UK, on how to raise smoking with a friend, a colleague or a customer without putting their back up. (East Sussex County Council, Start the conversation and help others go smokefree, 28 October 2026)

The guide, Everyday conversations to build a smokefree East Sussex, is aimed at residents and at people whose jobs bring them face to face with the public. Its pitch is that a conversation of “just 30 seconds of your day” could be “the spark that leads to months, or even years, of extra life for someone in East Sussex”. (Everyday conversations to build a smokefree East Sussex, PDF)

What the council says

Darrell Gale, Director of Public Health at East Sussex County Council, said: “There can be many different barriers to people stopping smoking but finding the right support doesn’t need to be one.

“By encouraging people to start a conversation about quitting, we hope that information about the support that smokers can access will be shared more widely and encourage more people to take that important first step towards making a healthy change.”

He added: “The benefits of stopping smoking are almost immediate and it is one of the best things you can do to improve your health and reduce your chances of developing long-term conditions and dying prematurely.”

How the guide says to do it

The guide is built around four steps it calls T.A.L.K.:

  • Tune in: open the conversation in a way that builds a connection, thinking about timing and who else is around.
  • Ask: if the person smokes, politely and without judgement. Its suggested lines are as plain as “Do you smoke?”
  • Listen: let them lead, and “make it clear that smoking is not their fault and that we all need support sometimes”.
  • Know-how: tell them what help exists locally and where to find it.

“You don’t need to be an expert, or to sign up,” it says. For someone meeting a person for the first time, it suggests explaining that you are talking to everyone who comes in that day, which “can be a good way to open the conversation and make people feel less defensive”. If someone does not want to talk, “that’s ok. Don’t force it.”

A flow chart from the guide. It opens with the question 'Do you smoke?' and branches into replies for people who would like to stop, people who have tried before, and people who are not interested, each ending with where to find local support.
The example conversation flow chart from the guide, with suggested replies for each answer. Image: East Sussex County Council and FrameWorks UK

The figures in the guide

The guide sets out its case in numbers:

  • People who get the right support are three times more likely to stop successfully.
  • It can take up to 30 attempts to stop before someone finally becomes smokefree.
  • Two in three people who try one cigarette end up smoking daily, and three quarters of smokers would never have started if they had the choice again.
  • Smoking 10 cigarettes a day can cost over £50 a week, over £2,600 a year.
  • Within 8 hours of stopping, oxygen levels return to normal; after 2 days taste and smell improve; after 3 days breathing gets easier; after 3 months lung function can rise by as much as 10%; after a year the extra risk of a heart attack is halved.

It also says vapes are “up to 95% less harmful than smoking a regular cigarette”, and that people who have face-to-face support and use an e-cigarette are more likely to succeed than those who use no stop smoking aid.

What it means for you

If you smoke and live in Crowborough, or anywhere else in East Sussex, the county’s One You East Sussex service runs its stop smoking programme with the provider gloji smoke free. Places are limited, and being an East Sussex resident is one of the eligibility tests. What it offers, according to its own page, checked on 28 October 2026: (One You East Sussex, Stop smoking)

  • In person: one-to-one appointments with a stop smoking mentor at a clinic near you, free quit aids handed out at each session, and regular carbon monoxide tests to track your progress.
  • By phone: one-to-one calls, including evenings and weekends, with quit aids delivered to your door.
  • Online: a 12-week digital programme of videos, articles and tips, alongside either of the above.
  • Free quit aids: e-cigarettes, nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers, tablets, sprays and more.

To get started, call 01323 404600, email hello@oneyoueastsussex.org.uk or answer the short eligibility questions on the One You East Sussex stop smoking page.

If you don’t smoke but someone close to you does, the full guide is seven pages long and includes the conversation flow chart above and suggested opening lines.