Aberdeen Safety Charity Supported with Further Year of Funding to Tackle Alcohol Misuse

The Scotch Whisky Action Fund (SWAF) has announced a further year of funding for Aberdeen-based health and safety charity Absafe. The Fund, which was established by the Scotch Whisky Association in 2013 to support local projects and organisations working to tackle alcohol misuse and promote responsible drinking, is administered by Foundation Scotland. As well as funding new initiatives each year, it also awards continuation funding to projects which have demonstrated clear successes in their first 12 months. Absafe was awarded £25,000 to build on their work to promote responsible decision-making around alcohol to up to 2,000 school-age children.

Absafe operates in the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire areas, and is an award-winning charity educating children and young people on how to make positive decisions around health, safety, risk and hazards, including roads, water and railways. Absafe’s Pro-Social Behaviour Room was created to incorporate the potential dangers of alcohol consumption for underage people with other common hazards such as fly-tipping, broken glass and fire. The Pro-Social Behaviour Room is used to show young people how alcohol can impair judgement and actions, leading to other risks and dangers. The Scotch Whisky Action Fund’s continued support has allowed the charity to employ a dedicated project facilitator for Absafe’s work around alcohol, allowing the charity to reach more children and young people by facilitating school visits as well as visits to Absafe’s Aberdeen base known as The Safe.

Louise Richardson, CEO of Absafe, said of the continued funding: “We are delighted to have been awarded an additional year of funding from the Scotch Whisky Action Fund, which has enabled us to expand the work that Absafe is doing to help promote responsible decision-making around alcohol and its effects. The work that Absafe delivers aims to save children’s lives, and it’s important to do that in a fun, engaging and memorable way. The Pro-Social Behaviour Room allows us to look at emotional and physical impacts of alcohol in an interactive setting, and our new project facilitator – who is themselves a young person from Aberdeen – has some great ideas to ensure we reach as many children as possible with our health and safety messaging.”

Dame Joan Stringer, chair of the Awards Panel, said: “The Scotch Whisky Action Fund is pleased to be supporting Absafe’s educational work around the impact of alcohol on underage people for another year. We have been very impressed by Absafe’s innovation in creating engaging ways to connect with children and young people around the dangers of alcohol misuse, and we look forward to seeing the results of their ongoing hard work over the next 12 months.”