Three projects tackling youth alcohol abuse win the top prizes at the Mentor UK CHAMP Awards, 2008

LookOut Alcohol, Lancashire

Mentor UK , the leading alcohol and drug misuse prevention charity, is delighted to announce that the LookOut Alcohol project based in Preston, has won the Young Person's Involvement category of the prestigious Mentor UK CHAMP Awards (Promoting C hildren's H ealth through A lcohol M isuse P revention).

The CHAMP Awards, supported by Diageo GB, recognises the best projects working with children and young people (14 years or under) to prevent alcohol misuse – both now and in their future lives. LookOut Alcohol was one of eleven finalists chosen from across Great Britain by a judging panel of experts, including teachers, health professionals and drug prevention specialists. These eleven finalists were then judged by panels of children and young people who decided that LookOut Alcohol should win the first prize of £10,000 cash and £10,000 worth of consultancy support.

Who better to help create a website about alcohol awareness for primary school pupils than young people themselves? That is the thinking behind the Lookout Alcohol website (. Children from Lea Community Primary School in Preston helped develop the alcohol awareness site. They suggested that it should be constructed like a game and fun to use. They based it around their local area including places such as the park, school ,library, the sort of places that most young people would go to. To make it more interesting and colourful they designed it to look like a town in the future with aliens.

One of the children involved commented: “What I like best is the information that tells you what to be aware of and that it is not nice to drink alcohol when you are young.”

Trevor Hart, head teacher at the school, said that the children's involvement in the site had been crucial in providing the child-friendly design. He said “A group of our Year Six children worked with staff from the Young Persons Alcohol Project and they came up with the idea of making it in to a game and filtered out whatever wouldn't be interesting to children their own age.”

“If you don't give proper alcohol information to children while they're young, you lose them. It's a very valuable and important message and we were delighted to be so involved in the website.”

The website is used in schools and youth centres / projects across Lancashire. It is also accessible for parents and teachers providing them with an excellent tool at their disposal to help them pass on balanced age appropriate messages about alcohol.

The website has attracted visitors from as far afield as the USA, Australia and China.

P.A.R.T.Y., Youth Alive, Dumfries

According to the local press binge drinking among young people in the Dumfries area is a serious issue, with young people as young as 12 being admitted to hospital under the effects of alcohol misuse. The misuse of alcohol not only affects these young people and their families in the short term but has lasting and devastating consequences in later life if this habit continues. Youth Alive aim to prevent this happening with a programme called PARTY, (Providing Alcohol Related Training for Youth) educating and changing attitudes to alcohol misuse.

Youth Alive realised that among the young people they were working with binge drinking was something they were talking about and a few were admitting to being involved in. From there they ran some workshops on the subject to assess if there was a real issue and if the young people would be interested in peer mentoring other young people by facilitating workshops. Youth Alive already ran a Dry Bar (an idea pioneered by the youth worker at the local YMCA) as a positive alternative to alcohol, serving no alcohol cocktails. The young people really enjoyed learning to make them and running the Dry Bar so we combined this with the workshops and came up with PARTY. A training manual was produced and copyrighted and a 12 week programme was produced, after partnering with the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme the programme then enabled participants to receive Bronze awards.

The programme takes a Community Learning Development approach using Popular Education Methods of learning, making learning fun, interactive and interesting. Therefore informally educating young people on the dangers of alcohol misuse and how to drink responsibly.

Youth Alive said:

“One of the most rewarding groups was a group of young men from a local school, some with a history of alcohol misuse who completed the course, and received Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.

This group of young people although gifted in many ways were not achieving at school in traditional ways but really engaged well in this group. The group looked at attitudes to alcohol, why young people misused alcohol and heard from a recovering alcoholic on how his relationship with alcohol began in an attempt to dissuade them from misusing it. Having raised their awareness of the dangers and of the circumstances that cause alcohol poisoning some openly admitted their past misuse and how they had no idea of how dangerous it was. They also talked of how they would find it hard to misuse alcohol in the future without thinking about the possible consequences. It would be nothing to some of them to down a bottle of Buckfast as if they were drinking a bottle of coke, they were surprised to realise that by drinking a bottle in that way they were Binge drinking and that the bottle contained 11 units more than enough to produce alcohol poisoning under the wrong circumstances. They imagined Binge drinking was something they saw on TV on a Police reality programmes where revellers were falling out of pubs and clubs and causing havoc on the city centre streets. They hadn't seen themselves in that way. It was very heart warming to hear of them receiving their Duke of Edinburgh Awards at the school prize giving, especially since they may not be receiving awards in any other way.”

P.A.R.T.Y won the Communities category of the Mentor UK CHAMP Awards.

Adolescents Anonymous, Kirklees

‘Adolescents Anonymous' DVD and resource pack explores the effects of alcohol misuse on three young people at different stages of their lives. It won the Schools category of the Mentor UK CHAMP Awards.

The DVD explores the effects of parental drinking on the family, peer pressure and cultural influences, and anti-social behaviour and problematic drinking. The DVD was made by film production company, Studio dm, and includes some actors who have appeared in national television and radio shows.

Val Flintoff, School Improvement Consultant (Kirklees Children and Young People Service - Learning) who developed the resource said “It is very encouraging to receive national recognition. The lesson plans are packed with interactive resources and activities to inform students, stimulate discussion and challenge attitudes about alcohol use.

The resource is already proving to capture the attention of young people and we hope it will play a part in helping them to develop a sensible and responsible approach to alcohol use in the future.”

The DVD was made with the help of young people and is to be shown to 11 to 14-year-olds in every high and middle school across Kirklees to promote responsible drinking.

Kirklees Safer Stronger Communities Service and Kirklees Council's Children and Young People's Service created the resource, which was commissioned as part of the Alcohol Strategy, a three-year action plan to promote sensible drinking and reduce under-age and binge drinking.

Cllr Khizar Iqbal, Chair of Kirklees Safer Stronger Communities Partnership, said: “I am absolutely delighted that this resource has been recognised nationally. I would like to congratulate all the staff involved in making this film, which supports young people to make informed and safer choices.”

Will Formby, Planning and Commissioning Coordinator for Young People, Kirklees Safer Stronger Communities Service, said: “ Y oung people were directly involved in the film's production, which has been crucial to its success. The central message is that young people do not have to keep quiet. They can tell, and they can get support.”

Eric Carlin, Chief Executive of Mentor UK, said: “The media constantly bombards us with negative images of young people, especially around the misuse of alcohol. The Mentor UK CHAMP Awards prove there are alternatives, and great projects out there helping young people to make sensible choices and live healthy lives.”

He said the judging panel was impressed that ‘ Adolescents Anonymous' does more than increasing knowledge and understanding about alcohol – it also recognises that challenging attitudes is fundamental if an impact on behaviour is to be achieved.

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For further information contact Derek Ferguson by telephone on 020 7739 8494 /0781 598 3636 or by email at derek.ferguson@mentoruk.org

For more about the CHAMP Awards please visit www.mentorfoundation.org/uk/awards.

Notes to editors

• Spokespeople are available for interview. Case studies and photographs are also available. Please contact the numbers above.
• The shortlist of finalists in full:
• Communities (3 shortlisted finalists)
  
  Strengthening Families, Cardiff
  This programme works with families to prevent and reduce alcohol and drug misuse and other anti-social behaviour amongst young people aged 10-14. They do this through enhancing parenting skills, building life skills in youth and strengthening family bonds
  
  Mitalee Summer School Project, Luton
  Volunteers work with over 300 young people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, offering them a range of diverse training programmes, workshops on drugs and alcohol awareness, drama and film production, radio broadcast and sporting activities.
  
  P.A.R.T.Y, Youth Alive, Dumfries
  This is a twelve week programme where young people are educated in a fun, participative style about the dangers of alcohol misuse and offered positive alternatives to drinking. With binge drinking among young people in Dumfries a serious issue, one of the most rewarding groups was a group of young men from a local school, some with a history of alcohol misuse who completed the course and received the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award as a result. This group of young people, although gifted in many ways were not achieving at school in traditional ways but really engaged well with this project.
  
• Schools (4 shortlisted finalists)
  
  Alcohol Workshops, Churches Action on Substance Misuse, Wirral
  CASM run one hour Alcohol Workshops which consist of activities such as role play and question and answer sessions that raise the awareness of children and young people to issues relating to personal safety and health if using alcohol and how making the right choices can influence their futures.
  
  Adolescents Anonymous, Kirklees
  This project, designed and scripted by young people explores the effects of alcohol misuse on three young people at different stages of their lives. The DVD, along with a comprehensive information pack with lesson plans, is shown to 11-14 year olds across Kirklees to promote sensible drinking
  
  Take Risks? Take Care!, Durham
  Through a range of activities this project allows young people to research alcohol and apply that knowledge to scenarios they have designed. They then create dramas which are filmed and used as resources with other groups at community events.
  
  Ludlow Alcohol Project, Ludlow
  As children complete their junior school education in Ludlow and prepare for transition to senior school, this project aims go give them an insight and understanding of the dangers of excessive alcohol use and the impact it can have on the human body and the local community. The children themselves came up with many of the ideas for the games, songs and literature that can be used to educate other young people.
  
• Young People's Involvement (4 shortlisted finalists)
  
  LookOut Alcohol, Lancashire
  This website ( www.lookoutalcohol.co.uk ) has been designed by young people for young people. From the idea of a website with a games concept to the design of the characters to the topics covered, primary school children were involved in all aspects of production. It is an interactive site that incorporates age appropriate alcohol education, downloadable lesson plans for teachers, homework based activities and information section for parents and carers.
  
  The Peer Education Project, Dundee
  Secondary and primary school pupils plan and deliver their own peer led sessions on drugs, alcohol and smoking prevention. As part of this project, young people created and alcohol awareness DVD and resource pack to be delivered to primary schools
  
  Truth Is: A Denton Alcohol Free Poster Campaign, Newcastle
  Denton's poster campaign began when a group of students from All Saints College began working on a campaign to promote the idea of their local area being an alcohol free zone. The young people secured funding which went towards designing a campaign which included postcards, banners and posters all highlighting the message that Denton is an alcohol free zone in relation to underage drinking. The posters feature the young people themselves as models.
  
  Wasted, Space2, Leeds
  The aim of this project was to work with a group of primary school children who were being ‘tracked' through their transition to secondary school. Using a series of games and arts activities organisers explored positive and negative thoughts on the use of alcohol. The outcome of these activities were then used to create a book about being alcohol aware which acted as a springboard for discussion within school, family and the community.
  
• Mentor UK CHAMP AWARDS 2008 – FACTS AND FIGURES

  FACTS

  Guidance issued by the Government in 2004 recommends that education about alcohol should start in primary school, before drinking patterns become established.

  Research by Alcohol Concern in November 2007 shows that hospital admissions amongst under-14s for alcohol poisoning continues to rise, as does the overall number of young people undergoing some form of treatment for alcohol problems.

  It also found that the average pocket money in 2007 for twelve to sixteen-year-olds is £9.53 a week. A combination of rising disposable income and stable alcohol prices means it is now 65% more affordable to buy alcohol than it was twenty years ago.

  According to the national Drugs Education Forum, friends or parents are the most common source of youngsters being given alcohol, along with asking someone else to buy it. Buying or stealing alcohol was much less common.

  FIGURES

  In 2007 evidence shows that up to one in ten 10-11 year olds had drunk alcohol in the previous week and that this rises to one in five 12-13 year olds and more than one in three 14-15 year olds. (1)

  Over one in five 14-15 year old females got drunk in the last seven days. This is slightly more than males of the same age. (1)

  Most of those that drink, drink at home, although substantial numbers of 14-15 year olds use other venues. (1)

  Of those who do drink at home, over one in three do so with their parents always knowing about it. (1)

  Among those 11-15 year olds that do drink, the average weekly consumption has doubled from 5.3 units in 1990 to 10.5 units in 2005. (2)

  Rising levels of alcohol related mortality and illness in adults raises the question of whether problematic drinking by young people is a precursor for misuse in adulthood. (3)

  1. ‘Young People into 2007', Schools Health Education Unit, 2007
  2. The Information Centre, 2006
  3. ‘Acquire', Alcohol Concern's Quarterly Information and Research Bulletin, Autumn 2006

• Mentor UK is a registered UK charity (no:1112339) and company limited by guarantee (no:5609241) that works in conjunction with its partners in the International Mentor family. Our mission is identical: to focus on the prevention of drug misuse in our efforts to promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people and to reduce damage to their lives. Mentor aims to support the effective use of human, financial and intellectual resources to achieve its goals. www.mentorfoundation.org/uk
• Diageo Great Britain is the sales and marketing division of Diageo in Great Britain. Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business, owning such brands as SMIRNOFF®, GUINNESS®, GORDON' S ®, BELL' S ® and BAILEYS®. Diageo believes it has an important role to play in reminding consumers about making intelligent decisions when drinking alcohol. Diageo Great Britain is a member of The Portman Group, promoting responsible drinking. Visit www.drinkaware.co.uk for information and guidance on responsible drinking