Purpose

This report recommends the award of a grant to Queen’s Crescent Community Association for the provision of stop smoking services at Queen’s Crescent Community Centre. In accordance with the Constitution, grants up to £25,000 per year can be awarded by the relevant Executive Director or the Director of Health and Wellbeing.

Offering stop smoking support in the Queen’s Crescent area of Camden is a key priority due to the concentration of health inequalities within the local population. The area includes some of the borough’s more deprived communities, where smoking prevalence is significantly higher than the Camden average, reflecting the well-established link between socioeconomic deprivation and tobacco use. Targeting stop smoking services in this locality is therefore critical to reducing preventable illness, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and cancer, which disproportionately affect residents in poorer neighbourhoods.

In addition, Queen’s Crescent serves a large South Asian population, among whom smoking rates, particularly among men, remain higher compared to the general population. Cultural, social, and structural barriers can limit access to mainstream cessation services, making locally tailored, culturally competent support essential. Providing accessible stop smoking interventions in this area will help address these inequalities, improve engagement with underserved groups, and contribute to Camden’s wider aims of reducing health disparities and improving population health outcomes.

Queen’s Crescent Community Association has been piloting stop smoking support at their community centre since October 2025, and in six months achieved 38 people setting quit dates and 28 of those successfully quitting. Stop smoking advisors at the community centre are accredited to the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training at level 2. Local support is provided by the Breathe community stop smoking service, and all activity contributes to Camden’s stop smoking performance monitored by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Decision

THAT the award of a grant of £20,000 to Queen’s Crescent Community Association for the provision of stop smoking services at Queen’s Crescent Community Centre be approved.