Drugs, alcohol abuse and mental-health charity promotes alcohol awareness week in Rochdale

Alcohol is used for celebration, comfort, socialising, winding down and to cope

Social enterprise Turning Point will be providing help and guidance to anyone concerned about their own drinking, or that of friends and family throughout Alcohol Awareness Week (11-17 November) in Oldham and Rochdale through ROAR (Rochdale & Oldham Active Recovery). 

Alcohol is a part of many lives. It’s used for celebration, comfort, socialising, winding down and to cope. It’s treated differently to other drugs; it’s legal, socially acceptable, even encouraged.

Yet in the UK, one person every hour dies as a result of alcohol. Alcohol harm, including mental-health problems, liver disease, several forms of cancer, economic difficulties, and so much more, can affect any one of us, from any walk of life.

The harm doesn’t end with the individual; anyone who drinks too much is part of a family and a community who feel the effects too, whether through frequent use of emergency services, drink driving, violence or neglect.

According to Public Health England’s Local Alcohol Profiles the borough of Rochdale is no exception to these issues. Medical conditions, hospital admissions and deaths either related to or directly caused by alcohol are higher than the national benchmark.

Turning Point and other organisations will be providing help and guidance to anyone concerned about their own drinking, or that of friends and family, at Number One Riverside, Rochdale, on 13 and 15 November.

The charity will be showing people how much they are really drinking using glasses with unit measures, for example, and giving guidance on where to find treatment and how to approach people who might have a problem with alcohol.

Julian Cohen, community development worker at ROAR, said: “It’s important to recognise that many of us are causing more problems for ourselves and others.

“We don’t want to stop anyone having fun. But for many the fun has stopped, and we want to help them get that fun back by helping them through problems with alcohol.”

Turning Point supports people affected by drug and alcohol misuse, mental-health conditions, offending behaviours, unemployment and health and wellbeing issues and learning disabilities.

Alcohol Awareness Week is an initiative from Alcohol Change UK, the alcohol charity which works for a society that is free from the harm caused by alcohol.

Turning Point will be at Number One Riverside on Friday 15 November from 10am to 4pm.