£5m fund targets alcohol problems
Tuesday November 03 2009
A counselling service for children living with alcoholic parents is among proposals included in a new £5 million strategy to tackle Northern Ireland's escalating drink problem.
Projects to help people ditch their addictions are also incorporated in the plans to combat alcohol misuse in the region.
The draft Alcohol and Related Harm programme, which is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund, aims to support community initiatives to deal with the issue.
The fund has asked the members of the public for feedback on its plans.
The Big Lottery Fund's NI chair Breidge Gadd said: "So far hundreds of people have told us how they want lottery funding to be spent in the future.
"We now want to know what people think of our Alcohol and Related Harm programme proposals and how we can best meet the needs of communities in Northern Ireland through this programme.
"Our priority over the coming months will be to develop grant programmes such as this that focus on the priority areas and I would urge people to start thinking now about how they can work with us in developing projects that can be funded."
One project that has already benefited from lottery money is Londonderry's Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum, which was awarded a grant of £1 million to develop its Neighbourhood Alcohol Safety Partnership scheme.
The partnership, which includes a wide range of organisations including local bar and off license owners, will use the cash to promote the safe sale and consumption of alcohol.
People can have their say on the proposals for the Alcohol and Related Harm programme by visiting www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
