Alcohol & Young People Programme – North West
Overview
The programme represents the coming together of a range of key organisations across the NW specifically to drive and support the development of effective strategies to address the impact of alcohol use on young people.
The programme is hosted by the Regional Youth Work Unit and is currently funded until September 2011.
The scale of the problem in the North West
Young people (15-16 years old) in the UK are more likely to have consumed alcohol, been drunk, and/or binged in the last 12 months than in other European countries. In England, by the age of 13, 40-50% have consumed alcohol at least once, rising to three quarters by the age of 15. There are many known risks associated with underage drinking including alcohol-related accidents, violence, crime and regretted sex. Experiences of alcohol misuse vary across the country: the north west of England experiences particularly high levels of alcohol-related harm compared with England overall. Because of such harms, the former Chief Medical Officer (CMO) published national guidance in 2009 recommending that under 18s should not be given alcohol (at least until they are 15) and that if 15-17 year olds do drink, they should only do so infrequently, within the daily guidance for adults and only with adult supervision.
Aims
Build resilience in young people to enable them to minimise and manage risks to themselves and those around them
Provide and support environments in which young people can thrive and be free from inappropriate pressures and harm
Outcomes
Reduction in the number of young people 14-17 drinking at least once a week
Reduction in the number of young people regularly binge drinking
Reduction in alcohol related hospital admissions among under 18s
Key areas of work
1. Identify, expand and share the evidence base for effective work with young people.
2. Champion the agenda with key stakeholders across the NW, providing guidance, support and expertise.
3. Ensure the sustained and meaningful engagement of young people in driving work locally and across the NW
4. Establish, support and share trailblazing work and innovative pilots.
The programme offer to local areas
1. Inform and support work with senior stakeholders, parents and young people
2. Provide a conduit between academic research and local policy and practice to ensure that interventions are evidence based and robustly evaluated.
3. Provide expert advice and consultancy to support commissioning, policy and practice
4. Build up capacity and expertise across the North West to enable mutual support and challenge
5. Provide a lobbying point for national policy including minimum pricing and advertising control
Programme Partnership Group
Eustace de Sousa Associate Director, Children & Maternal Health, NHS North West
Alison Giles – Chief Executive, Our Life
Alison Wheeler – Regional Alcohol Programme Manager, DH NW
Arif Raijpura – Director of Public Health, NHS Blackpool
Barbara Fleary – Risk Taking Behaviour Manager, Cumbria CC
Claire Bibby – Assistant Director for Area Support and Youth, Tameside MBC
Hazel Parsons – Head of Communications & Advocacy (Alcohol) DH NW
Jonathon Smith – Chief Executive, Child Health Development Programme
Liz Harding – Chief Executive, NWRYWU
Maria Thornton – Assistant Regional Director, R&D, NHS NW
Mark Limmer – NW Young People & Alcohol Programme Manager, NWRYWU
Michela Morleo – Alcohol Research Manager, Centre for Public Health, LJMU
Paula Wheeler – R&D Manager, Health & Well Being Alliance, NHS NW
Penny Phillips-Howard – Senior Researcher, Centre for Public Health Liverpool John Moores University
Rimpy Batta – Assistant Director, QIPP, NHS NW
Stuart Eglin – Regional Director, R&D, NHS NW
Contact:
Mark Limmer
Young People and Alcohol Programme Manager
North West Regional Youth Work Unit, Bold Business Centre, Bold Lane,
St Helens, WA9 4TX
Mobile: 07808 762 084 | mark.limmer@nwrywu.org.uk
Documents:
Summary of Evidenced Interventions