Seventy years on from first proving that tobacco causes cancer, the UK has committed to creating a smokefree generation.

Cancer Research UK scientists, staff and supporters have been crucial in every stage of that journey. We helped fund the study that first proved the link between tobacco and cancer, and we’ve campaigned tirelessly for policy change – most recently through our Smokefree UK campaign – to protect people from its harms. But we couldn’t do any of that alone.

Now the Tobacco and Vapes Act has passed, making it illegal to ever sell tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 in the UK, we’re bringing together the stories of some of the everyday people behind our campaign.

This is why it’s so important to protect younger generations from tobacco, and what it means to help make a smokefree UK a reality.

Damian’s story – a child’s hope

Damian understood the harms of smoking when many people still doubted them. In the early 1970s, when he was just seven years old, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Ted Heath calling for smoking to be banned.

And Damian is still campaigning today. For him, perhaps more than anyone else, the Tobacco and Vapes Act is part of a lifetime’s work.

“This is a long overdue step in the right direction to protect our children and grandchildren,” he said. “I hope I have done my small part to help the younger generation.”

Damian wrote his letter in the hope it could help stop his mum Domini smoking.

Like so many people who become addicted to cigarettes, Domini started smoking as a teenager. She died aged 67, just 11 months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

“Smoking is a deadly addiction and, like my mum, most people who smoke start when they are young and regret ever picking up a cigarette,” said Damian. “I know she would back raising the age of sale of tobacco 100%.

“My mum’s absence clouds every birthday, celebration or special occasion – not to mention all the ordinary, everyday moments we’ve missed out on enjoying together.”

Smoking has taken many more people from their families since Domini died in 2011. Over the past 10 years, more than 800,000 people in the UK have lost their lives to tobacco.

Over time, that number will go down. Damian’s “small part” will help make sure we lose fewer people to tobacco-related illness in the years to come, so future generations don’t miss out on the moments that matter, however big or small they might be.

Lynne’s story – a campaigner’s commitment

Lynne works with us at Cancer Research UK as a volunteer Campaigns Ambassador. Like Damian, she’s seen the effects of tobacco on her family’s health.

“So many of my family died from cancers and other illnesses that had been caused by or exacerbated by smoking,” Lynne said. “My father and many of my aunts and uncles all smoked for much of their lives and sadly suffered the consequences, with lung cancer and emphysema.”

She first joined our work when we were campaigning to remove branding from tobacco products in 2013.

In just a little over a decade, she’s helped move the conversation from changing what tobacco packs look like to phasing out the legal sale of tobacco altogether.

“It’s wonderful to look back and see what a difference we’ve made,” said Lynne. “This is the culmination of a lot of work to raise awareness and campaigning to get our MPs to vote for the health of future generations. I’m so proud of the work Cancer Research UK has done over the years to reach this incredible legislation.”

Anisha’s story – a doctor’s perspective

As a GP, Anisha has helped care for people who are experiencing some of the worst effects of tobacco. She’s also seen the pressure it puts on the health service. And she understands it all from both sides, because she’s been through a cancer diagnosis of her own.

“Smoking is a preventable risk factor in so many cancer types and this law is an incredible step towards prevention, which can only be positive,” she said.

Action on Smoking and Health estimates that NHS England spends £1.8 billion caring for people with smoking-related illness annually. NHS England’s own stats suggest that more than 400,000 of its hospital admissions are linked to smoking every year.

In future, all that investment could help improve other parts of NHS care.

“Lower smoking rates mean reduced pressure on overstretched services and lower long-term healthcare costs, so we can redirect resources towards preventing disease or stopping it early,” said Anisha.

Sue’s story – the life after tobacco

Sue started smoking when she was just 11 years old. Her story shows how hard it can be to quit. 

In 2012, she was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Her laser treatment was successful, but smoking is an addiction, and Sue wasn’t able to stop. Her cancer came back in 2015. Then it came back again in 2017.

“I back the campaign to have a smokefree UK so that no one has to be told that they have a preventable cancer like me,” Sue said. “I don’t want anyone going through what I did and having the guilt of putting their family through hell because of smoking. My daughters thought they were going to lose their mam.”

Sue thinks she spent more than £100,000 on cigarettes while she was smoking. Now, she can spend her money – and her time – where she chooses. She’s an avid campaigner to help other people give up smoking, and, in 2025, she was even awarded a British Empire Medal for her work.

“The third time I was diagnosed it required radiotherapy as it was more aggressive. It was then I eventually managed to quit for good. Now I’m alive and fit and I never think of going back to a cigarette. Smoking did its best to take my health and my life, but now I feel like I’ve taken my life back.”

Nigel’s story – a chance to speak up

Nigel’s wife Kim smoked for 30 years. He lost her to bladder cancer in 2022.

“Kim gave up smoking in 2012, and it was a good six years before her cancer diagnosis,” Nigel said.

Nigel never smoked himself. He didn’t comment on anyone else’s decision to smoke, either. “Growing up, I was in the minority, and I was always accepting of people smoking around me.”

Adaeze’s story – the next generation

The proportion of adults in Britain who smoke has fallen from more than 4 in 10 in the 1970s to around 1 in 10 today. But, even now, around 2,600 18 to 25-year-olds in the UK light their first cigarette each week.

Adaeze has seen that happening. She joined our Smokefree UK campaign to help stop it.

“It can feel helpless watching people you care about struggle with nicotine addiction and knowing how difficult it is for them to stop,” she said.

“If this legislation had been in place earlier, I believe it could have discouraged many young people, including some of my friends, from starting to smoke at such a young age.

“To me, passing the law means protecting future generations and ultimately saving lives.”

Gloria’s story – a moment to celebrate

Gloria is looking forward to a future without smoking.

“I started to smoke at 18 – I dabbled at first and then started at 25 after a break-up,” she said.

The effects of Gloria’s break-up stretched into a 20-year addiction.