What we do

We want to raise awareness of the problems caused by alcohol - educating, informing and encouraging people to reduce consumption. We also want to share best practices with partners in the North East and call on the Government to follow the international evidence on what works to reduce the harms caused by alcohol misuse.

Educate and inform
Alcohol plays too big a role in the lives of many of us in the North East. This has to change.

If we are going to change the way people in the North East think about and drink alcohol, we need to ensure they have the information to understand the issues and are aware of the risks. People need that information to make the right choices to protect their own health and wellbeing. They also need to be aware of factors such as the affordability, availability and promotion of alcohol which are nudging them to drink more than they might otherwise.

We provide sign-posting to a range of information, support and advice on how you can start to change your relationship with alcohol – from top tips to unit calculators and drinks diaries. Similarly, we highlight ways in which changes to laws and regulation can help improve the health of our people and safety in our families and communities.

We also raise awareness across the region through news articles, social media, TV and radio interviews, media campaigns, events and on street activity.

Have a look at our campaigns to see the work we have done to educate and inform people, and challenge and change perceptions.

Share best practice
Alcohol is a big problem, particularly for our front-line services who deal with the impact on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis.

So when an organisation implements efficient and effective ways to deal with, monitor or even record information on alcohol misuse and the impact it has, we want to shout about it.

We use a range of tactics to share ideas, innovations, experience and successes. This is achieved by working closely with partners, stakeholders and the media and utilising the knowledge, experience and relationships we have within our team.

Lobby Government for change
Educating and informing individuals and sharing best practice with partners is not enough. We live in a society where alcohol is too affordable, too available and too heavily promoted. Government has a role to play to protect all of us – and especially the most vulnerable in our communities – from the pressures to drink to excess.

The most critical part of our role is to highlight those pressures to politicians, partners and the public so that we can begin to change the social norms around alcohol. That means highlighting the damage caused to individuals, families and communities by alcohol misuse. It means exposing the commercial factors at play. And it means mobilising those same people and communities to call for changes from Government which international evidence suggest will succeed in reducing the affordability, availability and promotion of alcohol.

Further reading