Cardiff Community Alcohol Partnership wins UK award for educating young people about risks of excessive drinking
Cardiff Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) has won a UK-wide award for its work in educating students and young people about the risks of excessive drinking.
Colleagues at the CAP, which was launched in 2018, received the award at an event at Westminster on Tuesday, June 27.
The partnership was praised for the work it has done to engage 18 to 25-year-olds in the city. Its Safety Bus initiative was given particular praise for its work providing support on Cardiff’s busiest nights to lone, vulnerable members of the public. Since September 2023, the bus has supported more than 600 people.
Other initiatives include:
Working with student unions to promote alcohol-free drinks;
Working with the Cardiff and Vale Local Public Health Team to offer a one-year student placement each year to Psychology undergraduates. During the placement the students support CAP in designing alcohol resources for the 18-25 age group;
Working with licensed premises to promote responsible drinking and customer safety.
Lauren Idowu, Principal Health Promotion Specialist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Chair of the Cardiff CAP said: “We’re delighted to receive this award for our group’s work in reaching 18 to 25-year-olds. Cardiff has a large population of students and young people and through partnership working we can help to ensure they can enjoy socialising and the nighttime economy safely whether they’re a resident or visiting. The award is testament to the great work all the members of the partnership do, and we look forward to further developing this in the future.”
There are more than 250 CAP partnerships in England, Scotland and Wales. They bring together local stakeholders with a shared interest in preventing underage drinking and encouraging responsible drinking among young adults.
CAP partnerships are made up of retailers, local authorities, police, schools, neighbourhood groups and health providers, working together to protect young people from alcohol harm.
CAP’s annual report, launched at the event, shows how this innovative partnership approach has led to significant reductions to children’s and young people’s drinking, anti-social behaviour and underage sales in areas where it has created local partnerships:
Nationally, CAP evaluations show:
64% reduction in weekly drinking for 13 to 16-year-olds ;
After CAP training, 98% of retailers passed a Challenge 25 compliance test – from an average baseline of 52% ;
42% reduction in anti-social behaviour ;
40% reduction in residents reporting children and young people drinking in public places to be a very big or fairly big problem.
CAP Director Kate Winstanley says: “I’m delighted that in CAP areas around the country we are seeing such sustained reductions in regular drinking and anti-social behaviour among young people. CAPs are having a significant impact on reducing children’s alcohol consumption, improving their health and wellbeing and enhancing the communities where they live.”
You can download the annual report here, or for more information on the Cardiff CAP please go here