Drinkaware reaches millions as it sharpens focus on alcohol harm

Date Published

15th September 2020

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Independent alcohol education charity Drinkaware has today published its latest Impact Report, highlighting that over the course of 2019, nine million users visited its website and the charity's tools were used more 1.2 million times to understand the impact of alcohol on users' lives.  

This Impact Report marks the halfway point in Drinkaware’s ambitious five-year strategy. It showcases the charity’s sharpening focus on people most at risk from alcohol, as well as its growing understanding of harmful drinking behaviours across the UK. 

Last year saw a strong emphasis on accessible advice, an increase in campaigns and local community programmes and robust evaluations on its activity to measure its impact on people’s lives. Highlights include:  

  • One-third of men, and a quarter of women who drink alcohol, recalled seeing or hearing Drinkaware's 2019 Drink Free Days campaign ‘No Alcoholidays’, with one in six (16%) drinkers reporting having tried to cut down their drinking in the past six months 
  • More 9 million people engaged with Drinkaware through its website and social media 
  • Drinkaware’s tools were used more that 1.2 million times
  • More than 12,500 people were reached in communities and workplaces through Drinkaware’s initiatives and partnerships 
  • 200 Asda community champions were trained using the Drinkaware at Work e-learning modules. Trained ASDA ambassadors engaged directly with more than 7,000 Asda shoppers in a two-day in-store activity.  
  • Drinkaware continued its sponsorship of Derby County Football Club Community Trust’s walking football programme and our research partnership with walking football in Scotland, with the support of The Scottish Football Association.  
  • Drinkaware at Work was accredited by CPD. the Continuing Professional Development Accreditation Service and by The Royal Society for Public Health and was delivered in 16 organisations to more than 2,500 people. 
  • A new iteration of Nightlife Crew developed, with Cardiff, Hackney and Essex among the first partners to come on board. 

Chief Executive Elaine Hindal said:

“Alcohol misuse is very complex, and action must be taken on a number of fronts if we are to reduce alcohol-related mortality and ill-health across the UK.

“As our understanding of drinking habits, motivations and occasions continued to grow, we sharpened our focus in 2019 towards those who are drinking in harmful ways, the professionals who help them and friends and family around them.  

“Given the unprecedented events of this year, Drinkaware is more aware than ever of the importance of the work it does. While we are yet to fully understand the extent of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on alcohol use, we are clear that the need to continue to reach those most at risk of harm is likely to be greater than ever.”

You can read the full Drinkaware Impact Report 2019 here: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/about-us/annual-reports-and-audits#impactreports