- Youngsters at a Preston primary school are learning about the dangers of alcohol after helping Lancashire scoop a national award. Pupils at Lea Community Primary put their thinking caps on to help create a website about alcohol awareness for children their own age. And the Lookout Alcohol website won second place at a prestigious national awards ceremony. The interactive site has been produced by Lancashire County Council's Alcohol Project alongside the School and Community Partnership team and incorporates alcohol education, downloadable lesson plans for teachers, an information section for parents, and contacts for local services. Preston Today More info from Safer Lancashire. Info about Lancashire's Young Person's Alcohol Project in this previous post.
- Britain’s top doctor has said that the off-trade is “fuelling” the country’s alcohol problems. Professor Ian Gilmore president of the Royal College of Physicians, said alcohol was cheaper than ever before thanks to supermarket booze “loss-leaders” and vodka which “costs pennies when you take away the tax”. Prof Gilmore told BBC Radio the UK was sitting on a “time bomb” of cirrhosis. He said: ”Drink has never been cheaper in real terms in living memory especially in the off-trade.” Drink has never been cheaper in real terms in living memory especially in the off-trade Professor Ian Gilmore president of the Royal College of Physicians. Prof Gilmore said supermarket would be selling crates of beer as loss-leaders over Christmas and added: “That is fuelling the problems we’ve got.” Morning Advertiser
- Advertising campaigns which try to encourage people to drink less alcohol are a waste of public money, according to a leading expert. Professor Martin Plant says politicians are picking out the least effective measures for cutting binge drinking and avoiding sensitive issues such as tackling the price and availability of alcohol. Speaking ahead of a major international conference on young people and alcohol abuse, the director of the Alcohol & Health Research Trust at the University of the West of England in Bristol told the Sunday Herald there was no evidence that advertising initiatives worked. “Mass media campaigns and the kind of stuff we are getting at the moment are a complete waste of public money,” he said. “These campaigns do not discourage heavy drinking. “They [the government] are ignoring the advice that has been given to them for several decades ... to control the price and availability of alcohol.” But Plant warned that any strategy will have little impact unless it tackles issues such as restricting the numbers of licensed premises. The Young People and Alcohol conference, organised by the University of the West of England, takes place this Friday. Sunday Herald
- According to the report "Sponsorship in the Drinks Industry", sponsorship as a marketing tool has changed dramatically in recent years as companies have realized that associations with prominent events could lend visibility and credibility to their respective brands. It plays a major role in today's world as we can see the brand logos on the overalls of the driver in a car racing championship, a football or a cricket match etc. Sponsorship's add to a company's brand value and are complementary and useful to the marketing mix. The report also discusses the corporate social responsibility issues which have intensified in the recent years. It also includes the case studies of the current drinks sponsorships undertaken by the major spirits, beer and wine brands like Diageo, Foster's Group, SABMiller, Remy Cointreau, Brown-Forman etc. Presszoom.com
- The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) has published the findings of a major Behaviour & Attitudes opinion poll of public attitudes towards the problems of alcohol misuse. The poll examines the public’s views on who is to blame for the problem of alcohol misuse and on what they think should be done about the problem. Barkeeper.
- A coalition of councils, probation boards and penal reformers has formed to lobby the Government to let local authorities play a greater part in tackling the UK's chronic problem of criminal reoffending and in rescuing its overloaded prison system. The Coalition of Social and Criminal Justice, which has members including the Local Government Association (LGA), the Probation Boards' Association and the Prince's Trust, published a report this month that highlights the extent of the reoffending problem. The coalition claims that local government involvement is key to managing the successful transition of prisoners to normal civilian life. It argues that the Government's target of reducing the reoffending rate by 10 per cent by 2010 can only be achieved with the involvement of institutions at local level. In particular, these include local councils, which have a range of expertise in managing critical factors such as housing, education, employment, drug and alcohol treatment and family support. The Lawyer The report: Neighbourhood by neighbourhood: local action to reduce re-offending
- The ‘booze and drugs’ culture in Britain is having an increasingly harmful effect on businesses and the workplace, a new report has claimed. Around 17 million working days are lost in the UK each year through alcohol-related sickness, according to the 'Guidance on alcohol and drug misuse in the workplace' report by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine in London. The report also found that 35% of people of working age had used an illicit drug. Startups More details here
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