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binge drinking conference
why do girls binge drink?
Peer pressure? Boredom? An escape from day-to-day problems? What is it that drives some young women to go out and get drunk at the weekend?
YWCA is very concerned about the increase in the number of reports in the media about young women drinking alcohol and getting out of control.
Our conference on 21 October 2009 brought together people who feel strongly about alcohol and binge drinking and want to find solutions to this most worrying and increasingly common problem. Speakers and delegates with a wide range of expertise combined their extensive experience to come up with solutions to present to government ministers.
Documents to download free
We have lots of free documents about young women and alcohol for you to download here. We'd like to draw your attention specifically to these:
- Young women and binge drinking - conclusions and recommendations is a 12-page document which suggests ways in which the problem could be tackled. This document was distributed to conference attendees to discuss. Feedback and ideas from the conference will be added to this to create a longer report.
- This literature review by Dr Willm Mistral of the University of Bath looks at the current published thinking on young women and alcohol.
- This handbag-friendly guide to the risks of alcohol was devised with the help of young women from YWCA Northampton to help other young women understand the risks and consequences of drinking too much.
Speakers
Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians, was the conference’s keynote speaker. Other speakers were:
- Sara Thornton, Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police
- Seymour Fortescue, Chairman, Portman Group
- Don Shenker, Chief Executive, Alcohol Concern
- Olivia Bailey, National Women’s Officer, National Union of Students
- Helga Swidenbank, Director, Bronzefield Prison
- Emma Reynolds, Head of Government Affairs, Tesco
- Wulf Livingston, BASW (British Association of Social Workers)
- Julia Brown, The FASD Trust
- Dr Willm Mistral of the University of Bath and Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health NHS Trust
Our grateful thanks to all of them for taking part in our conference.
