Girls from Platform 51 Cymru give workshop

Girls from Platform 51 Cymru were invited to give a workshop at Alcohol Concern Cymru's conference Building a healthier relationship with alcohol in Brecon.

Danielle and Sophie, (pictured), both aged 14, are taking part in the All about Alcohol project at Platform 51 Cymru Cwmafan. This project, funded by Pfizer, is helping girls to develop resources to take into primary and secondary schools to raise awareness of the risks of alcohol. The girls' group has developed a resource based on the Top Trumps card game where each card highlights the health impact of excessive alcohol intake.

Danielle and Sophie planned and delivered their workshop with support from Cwmafan staff and demonstrated their card game resource to the conference delegates.

This was an excellent change to demonstrate their achievements and Platform 51 Cymru's work. Feedback from conference delegates was very positive; they were particularly impressed by Danielle and Sophie.

Linda Pritchard, Platfrom 51 Welsh policy officer said: "The girls and staff in Cwmafan have worked hard to produce some really useful resources which they will soon be taking out to schools in their area.  We were delighted to be invited to do this workshop by Alcohol Concern Cymru."

Young women and alcohol labelling

YWCA is concerned about the increase of binge drinking among girls and women. Evidence suggests that younger women from poorer communities are among those groups most at risk of excessive drinking. To help reduce this alarming trend, it is vital that alcohol products are labelled effectively. Girls and women have a right to know how much alcohol they are drinking and what safe levels of alcohol consumption are. They tell us themselves that the existing warning messages on alcohol products are not strong enough and do not convey the reality of the risks to their health. To find out more, read our response to the consultation on options for improving information on the labels of alcoholic drinks.

Stop sending mixed messages

Young women appealed to the British public to stop sending mixed messages about alcohol at a national conference hosted by YWCA. The conference aimed to find workable solutions to break the binge drinking habit which is having devastating effects on the country's youth and to understand the scale of the problem facing the UK.

The young women, who all attend YWCA centres, spoke of their confusion when they see drinking condoned as a cultural norm, but when they drink find themselves demonised as anti-social nuisances. They highlighted how susceptible young women are to the glamorisation of drinking in the celebrity culture, and called for positive role models who could challenge the distorted views of alcohol they see in the media.

The conference, held in London, is believed to be the first of its kind to consider the causes and consequences of girls' binge drinking. It brought young women together with professionals from the health, policing, charity, drinks industry and retail sectors.

Other recommendations from conference included calls for more financial support from the drinks industry into Government strategies - the industry as a whole, for example, spends around £800m a year on advertising alone. There is a need for more women-focused activities to tackle the boredom which is at the heart of many girls' drinking. Recognising the need to include young women's experiences and opinions in developing public information campaigns was also endorsed by the conference delegates.

The conference opened with presentations from Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and a specialist in liver disease; Sara Thornton, Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police; Seymour Fortescue, Chairman of the Portman Group; and Don Shenker, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern. All of them painted a stark picture of the scale of the problem in terms of health, policing and society.

This was echoed by YWCA which launched the findings of its own research into young women's binge drinking. Among the findings in 'Young women and binge drinking: breaking the habit', was recognition that despite a startling rise in girls' binge drinking which is leading to serious consequences such as unwanted pregnancies, STIs and rape, there is precious little research into the root causes of the phenomenon. There have been few attempts to find solutions designed specifically for young women.

Sarah Payne, Chief Executive of YWCA said: "Young women from our centres told us that they were shocked to learn the risks and consequences of binge drinking, and many are very committed to not only opting to drink sensibly in the future, but to promote that message among their peers.

"The conference today proved there is a genuine collective will among all those who are confronted with binge drinking to tackle it. If we harness that, along with the richness that young women themselves bring to the table, instead of allowing the debate to become polarised about crime and disorder, then we could really make a difference."

UK girls drinking more than ever

A new report says that teenage girls in the UK have the highest rate of drunkenness.

This is certainly true of the young women we see at our centres, many of who take serious risks by drinking to their personal safety including unprotected or unwanted sex. Despite this, more and more of them tell us they drink to get drunk and this is borne out by the statistics. The average weekly alcohol consumption for 11-to 15-year-olds increased from five units in 1990 to more than eleven units in 2006. There are many reasons why girls get drunk: violence, abuse, alcohol or drug use in the family, low-self-esteem, failure at school, peer pressure and stress.

Join us at at a conference in London on 21 October 2009 where we will consider the problem of girls binge drinking in more detail and look for answers. This subject has a huge impact on the health service, the police, the criminal justice system, local councils. Our expert speakers and delegates will share their ideas and opinions and, we hope, come up with some workable ways to help alleviate this increasingly serious problem.

This item on the BBC website neatly summarises the report's findings.

Girls should have more to do than get drunk, says chief exec

Boredom leads girls to binge drinking

Eighty per cent of the public, in a recent YouGov and YWCA survey, agreed that girls binge drinking is a problem in England and Wales. However, according to the survey people don't just want criticism and punishment for young women - they want to see girls offered ways to change their behaviour.

Boredom, peer pressure and lack of parental guidance are perceived to be the main reasons for young girls aged between 13 and 18 to binge drink according to the survey. Sixty three per cent of those who responded felt that boredom is a key issue around drinking in young women.

To help tackle binge drinking YWCA England & Wales, therefore, calls on parents and the Government to urgently look at how young people spend their days and evenings and to provide alternatives to binge drinking. About two thirds (65%) of those interviewed suggest that young women should be given alternatives, such as youth clubs and cafes, to reduce binge drinking.

"I think most of us accept that the teenage years are a time for experimentation. Which means it is not unusual for young people to try out alcoholic drinks. There has been plenty of talk about punishing young people but more and more the public are recognising that it is education, and support that is needed, not criminalisation." says Sarah Payne, Chief Executive of YWCA.

"Although many people drink because they enjoy it, we believe that young women especially drink because of low self-esteem, low self-confidence and nothing to do. Young women who feel bad about themselves drink to boost their confidence, to make them fit in socially, to block out traumatic things from their past and to forget worries about their future. In our day to day work we constantly see how improving self esteem and offering them alternative activities can dramatically change the lives of young women for the better. We help them develop their skills, socialise, gain work and qualifications. In this way we tackle the root causes of alcohol problems."

YouGov and YWCA's poll also revealed that the public don't want to criminalise young women. When asked what should be done about young girls drinking in public places, such as on the streets or in parks , only one per cent of those surveyed agreed that the police should move young girls on without offering support that would help them. A fifth (20%) suggested that more education and activities on the issue were necessary and nearly a fifth (18%) suggested that parents should be prosecuted if their child were caught drinking.

"We must not assume that all young people have safe and supportive homes to go to. For those who do not, and unfortunately there are quite a few, parental education on alcohol will be limited. Hanging out and getting drunk may even be preferable or even safer to going home" says Sarah. "Society needs to find ways to reach out and help these young people. If we don't we will be failing them and our future generations."

YWCA believes that the following steps will help reduce this problem:

• Safe, interesting and secure places to go and things to do, especially in the evenings and at weekends;

• High quality education as part of PHSE (Personal Health and Social Education). This should help young people to understand that alcohol can be addictive and alcohol misuse can damage their health and in the case of pregnant women their unborn babies. Discussions should also look at how alcohol abuse can have an impact on friends and family;

• Education should help young women gain an understanding that heavy consumption can often lead them into unsafe situations like dangerous driving, walking home alone at night, unsafe sex, the possibility of unplanned pregnancy or contracting a sexually transmitted infection;

• Education should extend to settings outside the classroom and be available for young people not in mainstream education;

• Local authorities need to make commitments in their Children and Young People's Plans to provide constructive out of hours activities for young women.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2015 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 10- 12 February 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

For more information read our briefings and information sheets on young women and alcohol.