Recent research shows that young people in Britain are drinking more and drinking more often. During the 1990s, the average amount of alcohol consumed each week by young people in the 11 to 15 years age group doubled. By the age of 13, young people who drink out-number those who don’t.
Whilst most young people who drink at any early age will not develop any serious problems as a result, this increase in drinking amongst young people can have serious consequences.
Youth work has a vital part to play in providing young people with opportunities to learn about alcohol, and to discuss and explore their own attitudes and opinions towards alcohol. It is important that this takes place during the period in their lives when they are most likely to be forming beliefs and behaviours for later life.
The Drinkaware Challenges are a new and additional aspect to the Youth Achievement Awards, UK Youth’s flagship peer educational programme, developed in collaboration with The Drinkaware Trust with funding by the Big Lottery Fund. The aim of the Drinkaware Challenges is to engage young people in the practical elements of alcohol education and awareness raising.
The Drinkaware Challenge will address alcohol abuse by encouraging young people to think up their own alcohol education projects, for example campaign media like posters, youth club alcohol policies, first aid projects, presentations, or drama. Young people will engage first hand with the challenge of how to change people’s attitudes and behaviour for themselves and learn key skills along the way.
The Drinkaware Challenge Resource
UK Youth and the Drinkaware Trust launched this resource at the Young People and Alcohol Conference held on Thursday 21st June 2007 in London. To download the conference report and keynote presentations, please click here.
The Drinkaware Challenges Resource supports practitioners working within formal, non-formal and informal settings, such as youth clubs, voluntary organisations, colleges and schools, to assist them to develop awareness around issues related to alcohol and sensible drinking, and to link these activities to the Youth Achievement Awards.
The information and activities have been divided into five key themes:
- Alcohol - Facts and Fiction -
provideing young people with the facts and information about alcohol, and the consequences of using and abusing alcohol.
Alcohol in Young People’s Lives - focusing on the role that alcohol plays in young people’s lives today and seeks to explore the beliefs, attitudes and ideas that young people have about alcohol. Alcohol in Young People’s Communities - focusing on the part that alcohol plays in young people’s communities and the way alcohol can affect different people such as young children, adults and older people. Alcohol and the Media - focusing on the relationship between alcohol and the different forms of media. Alcohol, Young People and Risks - containing activities that encourage young people to consider some of the risks associated with alcohol, and the ways to recognise, handle and minimise the risks associated with alcohol. Under each of the five themes, there is an explanation, challenge sheets and activities sheets. There is also a promotional flyer to encourage young people to have an alcohol awareness focus within their Youth Achievement Awards which can be downloaded below.
The Drinkaware Challenge Funding
This is an opportunity for organisations working with young people on alcohol awareness projects to access support in order to run the Drinkaware Challenges. Thanks to the generous support of the Big Lottery Fund, between now and March 2009, the project will support:
- 255 youth workers to attend an introduction to the Youth Achievement Awards with a focus on accrediting alcohol awareness activities.
- 255 groups working with young people to register to run the Youth Achievement Awards.
- 3,825 young people to participate in the Drinkaware Challenges and to gain national accreditation for their involvement.
Please note that this funding is for organisations and projects that are not already registered to deliver the Awards. Whilst this application form is specifically for groups based in England, the Drinkaware Challenges are UK-wide so contact your YAA country office for more details.
If you are interested in applying to become one of the organisations supported to access the Drinkaware Challenges please complete the Expression of Interest form below and return to Yvonne Richards as soon as possible. You will need to submit your form at least a month before the training date in order to participate in the project.
Training
For organisations which are already registered to deliver the YAA, the project will provide free training opportunities for workers designed to enable them to make the most effective use of the resources. The Accrediting Alcohol Education through the Youth Achievement Awards training will be held throughout the year. Please go to the Training Calendar section to download the booking forms.
For more information about this project, please contact Yvonne Richards.
