Know your limits Alcohol Awareness Week 7th 14th April 2008

Thursday 10th April 2008 – 1.30pm to 4.30pm

Rugby House, 2nd Floor, Forest Road Primary Care Centre, 308a Hertford Road, Edmonton

Friday 11th April 2008 – 1.30pm onwards

The market square, Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, Edmonton Green, London, N9

Both venues offer a chance to drop in and talk about alcohol to trained staff in confidence. Test your knowledge with quizzes about how drink affects you, and why not try our alcoholic free cocktails? Also try your luck guessing the units of alcohol in popular drinks, you may be surprised!

Think about what you are drinking and know your units, these are the messages being raised with the official launch of Alcohol Awareness Week, which this year runs between 7-14th April 2008.

Local people are being urged to put their own understanding of alcohol units under the spotlight, and determine whether their consumption is compatible with a healthy lifestyle with the help of two interesting events. The events marking Alcohol Awareness Week this year are an open morning at Rugby House, the borough’s specialist alcohol treatment centre, and an information stall in Edmonton Shopping Centre market.

Mark Duncan, Service Manager at Rugby House said: “Most people who drink, do so responsibly, but a significant number do go over the units that are recommended as a daily limit, being quite unaware of this fact.

“Staff at Rugby House are encouraging people to come along to have a chat and pick up some advice and information with regards to alcohol and about all the services we can offer.

“Alcohol Awareness Week runs from 7th-14th April and anybody who may have concerns regarding their own or another's alcohol use are very welcome.”

In addition, an exciting new initiative has just got underway in North Middlesex Accident and Emergency Department and two local GP practices, where patients are screened for alcohol problems and offered advice and information about their drinking. The work is part of a £3.2M Department of Health research project, and Enfield is one of just nine research sites in the country.

The project is a partnership between the National Addiction Centre, Enfield and Haringey PCTs, North Middlesex University Hospital and Haringey’s alcohol service, HAGA.

Dr Justin Shute, Liaison Psychiatrist at the hospital has been instrumental in setting up the project. He said: “We are really pleased to be taking part in this research, because alcohol-related admissions are very common in A&E, and we need to find ways to reduce them.

“We know from countless studies that the simple act of a doctor advising a patient about his or her drinking can be very effective in helping them cut down on excessive alcohol consumption. And if people drink responsibly, they are less likely to end up in A&E as the result of an accident, fight or acute health problem.”

This document was last updated on 2008-04-08 09:44:20 published by the Communications team. Document Reference:LBE_132641