News

Cash Boost To Help Local Problem Drinkers

Friday June 1 2012

A CHARITY which works with problem drinkers and their families has been given £210,000 to set on two workers in Barnsley.

Addaction will employ one person on the Breaking the Cycle programme to help families in which the parents abuse alcohol.

Another new staff member will work with under-18s around Barnsley town centre in a bid to stop them becoming reliant on booze, or putting themselves at risk. Asda supermarket is paying for the two new workers as part of a £1m pledge to the charity nationally.

Addaction service manager Claire Beevers said the Breaking the Cycle worker would be involved with at least 90 families over three years.

"It's to work with parents who use alcohol, to reduce harm for them and their kids. It is a very intensive project working with around the issue of 'family recovery'.

"It could be a whole range of things from how it impacts on children's behaviour, whether parents are up to get children to school, finances, housing and, obviously, if people need treatment or help to reduce their alcohol use."

In some cases the support workers attend a family's home every day. Meanwhile the youth worker would be targeting about under-18s around Barnsley.

"The target is to go our and make contact with 500 young people each year who are using alcohol and giving them safety messages," said Claire.

"It's working closely with the youth service and police street teams to target the younger end to stop them getting into future problems. We want to try to get to the most high risk problems."

Reply Posted by Tom on Wednesday June 13 2012 at 16:47

I think the problem most drinkers face is that alcohol is too expensive. If a pint was 50p, people could afford to drink in pubs again, they wouldn't drink to get drunk (generally - some always will - even it alcohol is banned, prohibition in america didn't work!), they would drink for pleasure/leisure. I think people binge drink because alcohol is expensive, they want to get their moneys worth on the one day of the month they can afford to have a few jars. Opposed to it being cheap, and just having a few drinks of an evening or with a meal.

Reply Posted by Peterpstott on Thursday June 14 2012 at 20:10

I'm sure that if beer was 50p a pint there would be full pubs again, and then they'd be all over the streets, and the Police would have to pick em up, or arrest em. You Only need to be darn Tarn over the week end, and watch the mayhem that ensues.Maybe I'm a cynic, but Cheap Beer equals better oppertunities, to get tanked over more days in the week, sorry but my opinion .

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