SEVERAL Solihull charities have joined forces to stage alcohol awareness week events.
The Solihull Integrated Addiction Services alcohol awareness campaign is being run in partnership with Alcohol Concern and drugs and alcohol abuse charity, Adfam.
They say the aim of alcohol awareness week is to get the Solihull local community thinking about drinking.
Their aim is to raise awareness of how it affects people as individuals, families, communities and society as a whole.
In doing so, they want to draw attention to negative health effects of excessive alcohol consumption.
The campaign is being supported by Meriden MP, Dame Caroline Spelman, who launched the Solihull Integrated Addiction Services charity partnership in 2013.
Speaking about the campaign she said: “Whether on a night out, enjoying a meal or relaxing at home, it is important that alcohol is consumed responsibly.
“For that reason, I am proud to lend my support to SIAS’s Alcohol Awareness Week campaign in order to highlight the risks associated with drinking too much alcohol and to raise awareness of the excellent support services they offer locally to help people beat alcohol and substance addiction.”
A spokeperson from SIAS told us: “We are reaching out to families in the Borough – and in Chelmsley Wood alone on Monday and Tuesday we had 80-100 conversations with our local community.
“The idea is to tackle the stigma, especially for families living with someone using alcohol.”
The national alcohol consumption guidelines were revised last year in an effort to curb the effects of alcohol abuse.
Last year national guidance changed the safe maximum number of units to the same level for men and women – 14 units.
The charities say alcohol is linked to over 60 medical conditions such as liver damage, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and cancer.
The SIAS team will be out in the borough meeting members of the community throughout this week.
If you live in Solihull and you are worried about your own or someone else’s alcohol use, there are a wide range of free and confidential services on offer.
Information on the safe use of alcohol is freely available from the charities’ services and websites.
