Alcohol Awareness Week 2021

This year's Alcohol Awareness Week takes place from 15 - 21 November 2021 with the theme of 'Alcohol and relationships.'

Many of us drink alcohol for a variety of ever-changing reasons, including: to relax, to socialise, to de-stress, to have fun, to relieve boredom, to deal with feelings of loneliness, and to try and cope with or avoid problems. However, drinking too much and too often can cause or exacerbate all sorts of problems with our physical and mental health, including damaging relationships with our loved ones.

For some of us, alcohol can become a central aspect of our relationships with friends, family or partners. When this happens, it can actually stop us from taking action to improve our drinking habits, even when those habits aren’t working for us.

By taking control of our drinking, we can see better, happier relationships, as well as improved health and wellbeing. A great way to start is by recording what you drink for a few weeks to help you understand your drinking pattern, then setting yourself some small achievable goals to get it back under control.

You can complete a digital scratch card to understand more about your drinking habits here.

Events for Alcohol Awareness Week 2021

Online Events with Achieve BBST

Our online Kaleidoscope group takes place on Tuesday 17 November 2021 at 2:00pm and will be focused on alcohol awareness: Click here to join the meeting.
Our online drop-in on Friday 19 November 2021 at 11:00am will be focused around mutual aid and peer support, including for carers/families: Click here to join the meeting.

Wellbeing Drop-in Day: Monday 15 November 2021

At the start of Alcohol Awareness Week this year, there will be a pop-up stall located in the Curve Reception on our Prestwich site to increase awareness of alcohol related harm, and to support positive behaviour change.

You will be able to access a range of resources to help effect positive change.

After Monday 15 November, our Library and Knowledge Service will be on hand to provide support and access to further educational material in the Curve Library for the remainder of Alcohol Awareness Week.

Staff Wellbeing Event 15 November - The Curve

Chalk to Talk: Monday 15 November 2021

Chalk to Talk poster

Kate Hall, our Head of Operations for Addiction & Homeless Services featured in Drink & Drugs News!

We’re thrilled to share that our Head of Operations for Addiction & Homeless Services has been featured in November’s edition of Drink & Drugs News.

Kate’s contribution to this article is titled ‘Separate and siloed’ and can be read from page 16 here: DDN-November2021.pdf (drinkanddrugsnews.com)

Resources for Alcohol Awareness Week 2021

Digital scratch card – a guide to common drinks

We encourage all staff, volunteers, service users and concerned others to complete the digital scratch card to find out what your drinking means for you.

All you need to do is answer 3 quick questions!

Complete the digital scratch card here.

Achieve BBST Resources

Our Achieve Bury, Bolton, Salford and Trafford Treatment and Recovery Services have created leaflets to provide advice about addiction and how you can access support for yourself and loved ones.

Alcohol and Drug Use A Family Concern – find out how to get support for yourself or a loved one.

Self Help Workbook & Diary – examine your own drug or alcohol use, find practical ideas and information to make the right choices for you and find help with starting to make changes to your drug and alcohol use.

#DRYMESTER – HELPING PARENTS-TO-BE GO ALCOHOL FREE

Drymester logo

#DRYMESTER is a health awareness campaign commissioned by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership which seeks to highlight the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy and the impact of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

The aim of #DRYMESTER is to dispel the many mixed messages and advice given to mums-to-be regarding drinking alcohol by spreading the clear guidance given by the Chief Medical Officers for the UK: If you’re pregnant or planning to become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.

#DRYMESTER are asking parents-to-be and their friends and family to sign up and spread the word that there’s no safe time and no safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy.

Watch the campaign video here.

You can also find a variety of resources to support the #DRYMESTER campaign here.

Alcohol Change Resources

Download Alcohol Change’s leaflet ‘Alcohol and relationships: how alcohol can affect us and the ones we love’ for tips about healthier drinking and happier relationships.

Alcohol Change have also developed a range of factsheets for Alcohol Awareness Week. You can download each of these resources by clicking on the relevant link below.

Alcohol and mental health - the relationship between alcohol and mental health is complex.

Alcohol and Domestic Abuse - alcohol alone is not a cause of domestic abuse, and is never an excuse. There are, however, many ways in which alcohol and domestic abuse are related.

Alcohol and parenting - we all want to do our best for our children. But sometimes we’re not too sure what that is.

Managing your drinking now you're a parent - Raising children can be stressful, and the pandemic has piled additional pressures on parents. If you’ve been feeling like drinking to cope, you’re not alone.

Alcohol and sex - many of us drink alcohol because we feel it gives us confidence in certain situations. But what are the other effects?

Am I drinking too much? - knowing how much is too much can be confusing when it comes to alcohol.

Support with your drinking - if you are worried about your own or someone else's drinking, remember that there is always somewhere you can turn for support.

Someone else's drinking - when someone is drinking heavily it can cause problems also for those around them. But there are people you can turn to for help.

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