We’re celebrating one year of supporting healthier lives
13th May 2026, News
One year on from our launch, we’re celebrating a successful first year of supporting people across Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes to take positive steps towards healthier lifestyles.
We launched in May 2025 and continue to be a free service designed to help people quit smoking, reach a healthy weight, and build healthier habits that last. Over the past 12 months, we’ve supported nearly 5,000 people to access lifestyle and behaviour change support.
In our first year, over 3,000 people were supported to quit smoking, with around 44% successfully quitting, helping thousands reduce the risks associated with smoking.
We’ve also supported over 1,700 residents to access healthy weight support, with more than 1,200 people benefiting from tailored advice and behaviour change interventions to help them make sustainable changes.
Our service offers a range of support, including tailored stop smoking programmes, behavioural change support, nicotine replacement options, and structured healthy weight programmes. We also connect people to additional services where needed, such as mental wellbeing, drug and alcohol support, and sexual health services.
You can refer yourself directly or be referred by a healthcare professional, making it easier to access the right support at the right time.
Over the past year, we’ve focused on reducing barriers that can prevent people from prioritising their health. We provide compassionate, non-judgemental support, helping people make achievable changes at their own pace.
Vicky Head, Director of Public Health, said:
“When we launched our service, our goal was to provide people with practical support to help quit smoking and lose weight. In just one year, the service has made a real difference, supporting people to take those first steps towards better health. As we build on this success, we remain committed to ensuring people continue to have access to high-quality, free support to help them make positive, lasting changes and live longer, healthier lives.”
The impact of our service can be seen through the experiences of people who have taken part.
Amelia lost over 15kg through the healthy weight programme, describing it as ‘not a diet, but a way of living’. She said the key to her success was ‘never missing a session – every week, I learned something new’.
David who smoked for four decades, said, ‘it was nice to have the encouragement and know that you aren’t on your own. He shared that the connection, consistency and compassion he received from the service made the biggest difference.