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Young People and Alcohol

Young Poeple and Alcohol

  1. 1. Background

    • The proportion of young people drinking has decreased in recent years; but the amount of 'frequent' teenage drinkers has risen sharply. This increase is widely acknowledged to contribute to social problems such as poor health, violence and anti-social behaviour.
    • Some young people, such as those living in deprived areas or leaving care, are seen as especially vulnerable to drink related problems, and alcohol use at this age is a significant factor in school exclusion, teenage pregnancy, and youth offending.
    • Services for young people who have got into difficulty with drinking are patchy; and despite the huge cost to society, this sector is poorly funded. So we continue to run a dedicated alcohol programme with a focus on young people.

  2. 2. Aim of the Programme

    This programme aims to provide support for young people aged 11-25 who are drinking excessively and meets one or more of the outcomes listed below.

    We will fund services that aim to reduce the levels of young people’s drinking, create greater awareness of the dangers of harmful drinking and provide direct support to young drinkers at the greatest risk – those drinking excessively and dangerously. This could include individual or group work sessions, or both.

  3. 3. Outcomes

    The organisations we fund will need to show how their work will help deliver one or more of the following outcomes:

    • A reduction in alcohol consumption by young people
    • A reduction in harm and increased access to help for young people who have alcohol problems
    • Closer working relationships between alcohol and young people's services
    • An increase in relevant skills to deliver services targeted at young people who have alcohol problems.

  4. 4. Who will we fund?

    We welcome applications from voluntary and community organisations working with young people with alcohol problems aged between 11 and 25.

    We particularly welcome applications from agencies working with those who are vulnerable and at high risk of heavy drinking. We are also interested in funding services that target particular groups such as those from Black and minority ethnic communities and young women, as these groups find it especially hard to access services. We also welcome applications for work supporting training that equips staff with specialist skills in working with young people with alcohol problems.

    We particularly want to encourage joint applications from young people’s agencies and alcohol agencies where expertise can be shared, innovative approaches developed and where the added value of working together can be shown.

    We also recognise that some organisations will work with people around a variety of substances. In these circumstances we specifically want to support the alcohol element of the work and our funding is likely to reflect this.

  5. 5. Other important information

    This programme targets young people who are drinking excessively and need help. We are also interested in how we can help prevent high levels of drinking amongst young people. Over the next year we will work with others to establish a funding programme led by young people using their personal experience to create innovative education, prevention, and awareness resources. As the programme develops and is open to applications, details will be available here.