Sign up now for Dry January 2016

Plymouth City Council’s Public Health department and Plymouth Community Healthcare’s Livewell team are working in partnership to encourage local people to sign up for Dry January 2016.

Dry January is a national behaviour change public health campaign developed by the charity Alcohol Concern and supported by Public Health England. It seeks to challenge people to give up drinking alcohol for the month of January.

Launching the Dry January campaign, Tom Smith, Director of Campaigns at Alcohol Concern, said: “All over Britain people will relax with a drink after a stressful day, or even at lunch, without realising the harm it can do to their health. Over December we all tend to drink much more than normal without realising it.

“Dry January is an incredible opportunity to reassess our relationship with alcohol, as well as gaining some great health benefits such as; lower blood sugar, lower blood pressure, improved sleep, losing weight, feeling more energised.”

Councillor Sue McDonald, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Public Health for Plymouth City Council, said: “We would encourage people to sign up in advance to Dry January – not only will it make you feel better and perhaps think about moderating your drinking following Christmas and New Year celebrations, it will also raise funds for a fantastic cause – Alcohol Concern.

“Here in Plymouth we are working hard with our partners in health, voluntary sector and police to address the issues caused by alcohol including treating those who need help, but also ensuring through early intervention and prevention we educate people of the dangers of alcohol from a young age.”

Plymouth City Council, Devon and Cornwall Police, Northern, Eastern, and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, and Dorset, Devon & Cornwall Community Rehabilitation Company (formerly Devon and Cornwall Probation Trust) are all signed up to the Strategic Alcohol Plan for Plymouth 2013 to 2018, to reduce the impact of alcohol on Plymouth.

It also forms a key part of our Thrive Plymouth initiative which recognises excessive drinking as one of four lifestyle behaviours that lead to 54 per cent of deaths in Plymouth. This is a ten year framework to improve health and reduce health inequalities in Plymouth.

There are a number of successful schemes already underway in Plymouth including:

• Working with local bars and off licenses to monitor the night time economy with initiatives such as Pubwatch, to providing training for a range of professionals to be able to recognise the signs of alcohol problems
• Education in schools – with Thrive Year 2 focusing on schools
• Rehabilitation services for those who need it.
• Reducing the Strength campaign to encourage retailers to stop selling cheap, super-strength beers and ciders.

Some of the Council’s own staff took part in Dry January this year. Among them was Tommy Clift, 19, who was working in Public Health at the time but now works at Plymouth City Museum as an Events and Commercial Assistant.

Tommy, who prior to Dry January drank most weekends with friends, like many people his age, said: “I was the only person in my social circle to stop drinking – they all thought it was ridiculous that I was stopping drinking, even for a month. However, by the end of the month I had more energy to get me through the working week, and no longer felt that the weekends were catching up with me.

“I would participate in the campaign again if my friends joined in... If I had advice to others doing Dry January, it would be to get friends on board, and plan other events for evenings that don’t revolve around drinking”.

“With the huge variety of alcoholic drinks on sale, it is becoming increasing difficult for people to know how many units of alcohol they are consuming. Alcohol is also calorie laden, meaning a pint of strong lager can have up to 350 calories, which is equivalent to eating a portion of chips. Dry January is great opportunity to challenge yourself, family and friends to stop drinking alcohol for 4 weeks. It’s good to tell people that you are taking up the challenge, so that they can support you, or join in as well.

The Livewell team also offer free training to people who would like to know more about the risks of drinking too much. “Alcohol Identification & Brief Advice” is an interactive and  practical course that will build individuals’ confidence & understanding about how to raise & respond to alcohol issues in an effective way.”

For more information call the Livewell line on 01752 437177 or visit our website” www.livewellplymouth.co.uk

Last year more than 4,000 adults in the South West signed up to Dry January, and from now through to the start of January people you be able to sign up either as an individual or a team to give up drinking for a month.

An information and sign up session will be held at Central library on Saturday 9th January 10.00-12.00

To find out more about Dry January visit the website http://www.dryjanuary.org.uk/  or Facebook www.facebook.com/DryJanuary  or Twitter @dryjanuary and use the hashtag #dryjanuary.  Please note Dry January is aimed at social drinkers and is not a medical detox programme.