Ann, from Northallerton, started smoking when she was around 21. Many of her friends smoked and at the time it felt like the ‘cool’ thing to do. What started as something social soon became a daily habit, and before long she was smoking around 15 cigarettes a day.

Now 75, Ann has finally quit smoking – something her family had been encouraging her to do for decades.

“Smoking really impacted my health. I remember one day I woke up and I just couldn’t catch my breath. I ended up being in hospital for three weeks and that’s when I was diagnosed with COPD.