Anne Banks

Anne Banks, 52, was a smoker for 36 years until she stopped in June 2007.  Her main motivation to quit was to be able to keep up with her three active grandchildren – and to make sure that her complexion didn’t turn grey, as she had seen happen with friends who were still smokers.

So how did she do it?  There was no ‘magic wand’, but Anne believes that the help and support she got from her NHS Stop Smoking group in Craigroyston Community Centre was invaluable.  Previous attempts to quit on her own had been unsuccessful, but with the help of Katie Jack (the leader of the Stop Smoking group), the support and motivation of others in the group, and the use of 16-hour NRT patches, she finally managed to kick the smoking habit.  Anne also made sure that she changed some other habits for a while that she associated with smoking, such as drinking coffee or alcohol, to avoid temptation.

Now Anne is thrilled to be smoke-free, and can easily keep up with the grandkids when they go out for walks along Edinburgh’s shoreline.  And she was especially pleased when her mother remarked on her glowing complexion and asked if she was using a new moisturiser.  “No,” replied Anne “it’s just down to stopping smoking!”.

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