What’s the VApril Challenge?

Are you a smoker in the U.K. looking to quit? Or do you know someone who’s been thinking about giving vaping a shot? April may be the perfect month to make the switch.

The VApril Challenge is a nationwide awareness and education campaign organized by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) and fronted by Dr. Christian Jessen, one of U.K.’s most recognizable doctors with a long-standing TV presence. Dr. Jessen has been a longtime supporter of vaping as a harm reduction tool for smokers.

According to the VApril website, the VApril Challenge has three steps:

1. Drop into a Vaping Masterclass.Drop into a Vaping Masterclass anytime between the 3rd – 30th April at specialist vaping stores in cities across the UK. The masterclass will include:

   An introduction to the range of devices and flavours on the market;

   Expert advice on the ideal starter products based on smoking habits: from social and light to average and heavy cigarette usage

2. Receive your free 6-page VApril guide.The UK Vaping Industry Association has produced a special guide for first time vapers, Vape to break the smoking habit, which provides lots of great advice and information on:
   • The best way to make the transition from smoker to vaper
   • The different nicotine strengths to select in line with your smoking habits
   • The range of devices on the market to use at different stages in your vaping journey from ‘vaping first timers’ to ‘vaping veterans’
   • The different components that make up a vape device
   • 5 vaping facts to encourage you to quit smoking
3. Be social.Tell us about your VApril experience by posting your thoughts, pics and videos on:
   VApril Facebook Page
   @Vaping_Industry
   Use #Vapril and #Vaprilchallenge to join the conversation.

The VApril site has a list of participating stores, and also a downloadable version of the guide, in case you don’t live near a participating vape shop. The website even has some motivating videos of vapers going smoke-free.

The VApril Challenge is aiming to help the 7.6 million British smokers join 1.5 million vapers who’ve already quit smoking altogether. The VApril Challenge is aiming to reach the 40 percent of U.K. smokers who haven’t even tried vaping yet.

According to Public Health England, vaping is 95 percent less harmful than smoking and, over 20,000 people quit smoking every year in the U.K. with the use of e-cigarettes. Last year, PHE’s annual Stoptober campaign was sponsored by another U.K. vape industry group, the Independent British Vaping Trade Association (IBVTA).