Residents across St Albans City and District are being urged to ‘Rethink their drink’ during Alcohol Awareness Month by the St Albans City and District Community Safety Partnership which works to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and substance misuse in the District.
St Albans and District Community Safety Partnership
The Partnership is encouraging people to keep a drink diary for a week to find out how many units they are consuming. To mark the start of the month-long campaign, members of the Partnership and Turning Point Hertsreach hosted a market stall in St Albans on 1 June offering advice to residents on crime prevention and alcohol and substance abuse.
Alcohol misuse can be associated with anti-social and disorderly behaviour and is often a strong contributory factor in wide range of offences, including criminal damage, minor and serious assaults, violent offences, traffic offences and public order offences which are often anti-social in nature and can involve disorderly groups of people; rowdy, threatening and abusive behaviour, and urinating in public.
The Chief Medical Officer for the Government recommends that men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day and women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day. However, this doesn’t mean that it is safe to save up your daily units during the week and indulge in binge drinking at the weekend as this can be bad for your health. Heavy weekend drinking sessions also tend to result in hospitals’ Accident and Emergency departments having to handle more alcohol-related accidents and injuries than in the week.
Consuming more alcohol than the recommended daily amount is not only detrimental to your health, it can also lead to weight gain and affect your fitness levels. A pint of beer or a glass of wine contains nearly 200 calories each, the equivalent of eating a doughnut or a packet of crisps. So, a drinking session after the gym could mean a good work out is wasted as the calories you have burned could be put back on with a few drinks.
Moreover, alcohol also makes you feel hungry and can lead to increased food consumption.
Cllr Beric Read, Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Localism for St Albans City and District Council, said: “The St Albans City and District Community Safety Partnership not only works to prevent crime, but it also tries to help reduce alcohol and substance misuse in the community as the two issues are sometimes inter-linked. The Partnership can put people affected by alcohol and substance abuse in touch with the organisations that can provide help and support.”
Sally Brown, Team Leader at from Turning Point Hertsreach St Albans, a service providing support to adults affected by drug and alcohol misuse, said: “Turning Point offers free and confidential services to residents over the age of 18. We offer a number of interventions including advice and information, structured day programmes, one-to-one key working, voluntary group work, relapse prevention, counselling, friends and family support and complementary therapies. As well as accepting referrals from general practitioners (GPs) and partner organisations, we also accept self-referrals and would urge anyone who has an issue with drug or alcohol misuse to take the first step towards recovery and get in touch.”
Here are some tips to help you maintain your fitness levels and your health:
• Avoid drinking because you are stressed – go for a walk, swim or cycle ride instead
• Avoid drinking on an empty stomach as you are more likely to consume more food and increase your calorie intake
• Add soda water to white and rosé wines to make them last longer
• Alternate alcoholic with soft drinks to prevent you becoming dehydrated and drinking even more alcohol
• Keep a diary to track your alcohol consumption. You can download a Drink Diary and find out more about Alcohol Awareness Month on Hertfordshire County Council’s website.
• Use the NHS online and iPhone calculators to find out how many units you have drunk on the website for NHS Choices.
Remember, if you reduce your alcohol intake, you can also reduce your stress levels, lose weight and look your best.
Alcohol Awareness Month is being run by St Albans City and District Community safety Partnership in partnership with the County Community Safety Unit, the joint unit between Hertfordshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire County Council and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, in partnership with the NHS and other local councils.
More information and advice is available from The St Albans City and District Community Safety Partnership on 01727 819305.
St Albans City and District Council