Avon and Somerset Police Community Trust – Dyin’ to be Drunk

Here Drinkaware made a general contribution to a tour of the above theatre piece from the Pretty Good Girl Dance Theatre company. The alcohol messaging in this piece is educational first and foremost and designed to be especially relevant to the fourteen to twenty-one age range. Our drinking culture, social drinking and binging are all examined through the narrative, dance and music. Around 2700 people in the area are expected to attend eleven performances at a wide variety of venues, with several schools planning to use it as a basis for further work on substance abuse. Three performances will incorporate after-show discussions to gauge their success and explore improvements and information packs will be available to all attendees throughout the entire tour.

Londonderry City Centre Initiative – Blue Bag City

This project comprises a series of improvised performances which challenge the drinking culture. The Baking Factory theatre group, with students from a local college, tackles the key issues of underage purchasing and consumption of alcohol and its various implications. At least six performances are due to take place in a busy part of the town centre to guarantee high visibility. Interestingly, there is no promotion of the first show so that the surprise factor can stimulate discussions on the subject among the public and local businesses alike. Instead, promotion begins after the first show while it is still fresh in people’s minds. It is hoped that the unexpected first performance, unconventional approach to promotion and the subsequent five repetitions, coupled with high levels of recent local press coverage on harmful drinking, will combine to cause a sharp increase in people’s overall alcohol awareness. The grant helped to fund the shows and contributed to promotion costs. 

Northumbria Police- Newcastle young people's alcohol road show 

This is a two-part event toured to all Newcastle's secondary schools, reaching some 3000 year 10 pupils. A multi-agency partnership of education, health, enforcement and entertainment bodies collaborate to deliver key messages surrounding alcohol. It comprises a theatre production, part-funded by Drinkaware, tackling the consequences of alcohol abuse, alongside a Market Place event where young people can discuss all alcohol issues with professionals working within the above spheres. Follow-up work provided by the theatre company will also enable attendees to cement their knowledge in school and pass it on to friends and families.

Pintsize Theatre – Only the One

This is an alcohol awareness play and workshop with follow-up work for primary schools toured in Nottinghamshire, aimed at years 5 to 8. It enhances young people's knowledge of long- and short-term dangers of alcohol and its affects on our bodies and minds. It emphasises the links between alcohol and violence, accidental injury and the illnesses that can afflict heavy drinkers later in life. It clarifies alcohol law and shows how it has a greater affect on children. It also teaches young people to make informed decisions about their drinking and to resist both adult and peer pressure.  

The London Bus Theatre Company – Preventing Binge Drinking Among Young People in Hertfordshire 

Here Drinkaware funded two training days for teachers in Hertfordshire to demonstrate the value of forum theatre as a learning tool. In each case, thirty teachers and a group of pupils from nearby schools (aged eleven to sixteen) come together to participate in awareness building workshop activities. Broadly speaking, the teachers learn that messages are better conveyed if pupils are involved rather than simply shown, while the students enhance their general knowledge of alcohol. In this instance, the Drinkaware grant also funded the distribution of an alcohol awareness video to all schools in Hertfordshire.

Read Ricky's story here

Phaze Warrington Youth Service – Alcohol Theatre Project 

Having reached many young people through work during Christmas 2006, Phaze were funded by Drinkaware to enhance the knowledge of their contacts further by commissioning GW Theatre to perform their alcohol play Smashed. Aimed at thirteen to 19 year-olds, Smashed Discusses law, responsibility, risk taking, the various consequences of excessive drinking, peer pressure and highlights national services available to young people. The play also involves hot-seating so the audience can participate during the performance by analysing characters' actions and discussing solutions to the problems they see arising from alcohol misuse.