As we come towards the Christmas break, we are able to look back on what has been a very successful year for us, including the move to our lovely new home, the introduction of several new resources, our conference and of course a very special visit! 

We would like to wish you a wonderful, relaxing Christmas time and look forward to supporting your work in 2022!

On the 6^th December His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall formally opened Pavilion in The Park (PiP), built and run by us.

Before raising the funds to build PiP, we ran our operations from a garden garage in Frampton, so the move to a purpose-built premises with an office, community/training room and revenue-generating café has been transformative.

Helena Conibear CEO of the AET commented, “We now have a wonderful building, designed for us by The Prince's Foundation, that fits so perfectly on The Great Field. It enables us as a charity to host diversionary activities for young people, to be a community hub, raise much needed funds for our work and gives us a permanent home at last. We are so grateful to the amazing funders that made our dream come true from individuals, crowd funders, Sport England, The Town and Dorset Councils, Low Carbon Dorset and The Duchy of Cornwall.”

PiP is very eco-friendly with solar panels, air source heating, reclaimed tiles, paving and pallets/scaffolding boards used in the interior. Visitors to the café can borrow books from the community book swap or support under 25’s by buying their artwork. When the play equipment opens in the New Year, the café will also have an outside ping pong table, raised beds and a bird feeding station, as well as more picnic tables.

Jason Bowerman, Duchy of Cornwall Estate Development Manager, stated, “The Duchy of Cornwall is delighted to see the new headquarters of the AET, with associated café, established. The Pavilion (PiP), is the result of a major planning and fundraising exercise by the Trust. Construction was undertaken during a time of quite unforeseeable restrictions and it is a credit to both the Trustees and CG Fry and Son, that such a high quality and valuable resource has been delivered during the pandemic. PiP will complement the major works undertaken by the Duchy on The Great Field, especially the play equipment currently being installed. The result is a wonderfully diverse area for both visitors and residents of Dorchester. The Duchy is pleased to have been able to support the project and welcomes the AET to their new home”.

Philip Fry Managing Director of CG Fry commented, “We have very much enjoyed working on this project with Helena and the team. We have carried out the building and design work on this project on a no profit basis, as we felt that it would provide a valuable asset for the community as well as supporting a charity doing great work within the community. It is good to see how well the finished building looks in The Great Field.”

Les Fry Dorset Councillor and Dorchester Town Councillor commented,“ This building is a significant asset for Dorchester and users of The Great Field; the café is very well used by a wide range of people of all ages, it is good to see the meeting room being utilised by local organisations too. As a member of Rotary, we have taken the opportunity to hold meetings here and the staff and atmosphere have been excellent. For me personally the café is a great location for small one to one or event planning meetings and enables me to support a very worthwhile cause by sampling the excellent cakes!”

• The most common location of spiking was at a private party (35%) followed by at a night club (28%), with 13% in a bar/pub, 7% at a festival and 17% in another location.
• Shockingly, 92% of participants who had been a victim of drink spiking didn’t report it.
• Of the small number who did report that their drink had been spiked, 25% told the police, 26% a medic and 25% a bouncer/venue staff. 8% told a party host, 8% a friend and 8% a parent. Worryingly, 50% of those who reported spiking said nothing happened as a result.
• Only 36% of survey respondents said that they felt confident about what to do if a friend’s drink had been spiked. 60% said they didn’t know where to go for help and support around drink spiking.

As a result of these findings, the AET is now putting together a campaign both highlighting the issues and emphasising the importance of reporting cases as soon as possible. The campaign also gives top tips to prevent drink spiking from happening. You can read more via drink_spiking_adult.pdf (alcoholeducationtrust.org) 

Alcohol Awareness Week ran from the 15th to the 21st November and, as always, we supported many schools and organisations across the country to enable them to make the most of it.

Karen, our Coordinator for the Midlands, South and West, had a very busy week! Support was provided all across the region Karen covers with teacher training sessions delivered to Shropshire secondary schools and Coriell in Derbyshire.

Karen also took part in some student engagement, delivering sessions to students at Westfield Academy in Somerset, The Dorchester Thomas Hardye School and Highsted School in Kent. The sessions were very interactive looking at units/government guidelines, drink driving, drink spiking and how to stay safe.

Every year we are involved in Southampton University’s Student Teacher Health Conference and Karen was involved virtually this year during Alcohol Awareness Week.

In addition, a 16+ training session was delivered to YMCA in Derbyshire.

Kathryn also had a very busy week delivering training across the North. A Talk about Alcohol and Cannabis session was delivered to staff working on Prince’s Trust programmes across the North West, and youth work staff from Blackburn Youth Zone.

Other events included a virtual alcohol and cannabis training session delivered to Sanctuary Supported Living and a Talk about Alcohol session to Cheshire Youth Offending Service which included some great discussions around drink spiking and a good look at the resources we have on the topic.

Kathryn was also invited to deliver a session to The Alliance for Learning. Their RSHE training hub was so successful last year that they have been able to continue for a further year and Kathryn was delighted to be involved.

Jane Perkins, Marketing Manager for Ansvar commented, "This is the first time Ansvar has run their Donation Programme, inviting all charities in the UK who promote healthy lifestyles to children and young adults, to apply for a donation. We were overwhelmed by the number of entries received – over 250! We whittled the applications down to a Top 10; our main considerations being broad reach, both geographically and the number of children who would benefit from the programme, as well as a clear plan of how the donation would be spent. The judging panel of nine people were then asked to select their top 3 charities and The Alcohol Education Trust was one of the winners! Having worked with AET for 5 years already, and incredibly impressed with the difference they make to so many children, it was lovely to be able to guarantee Ansvar’s support for a further 3 years."

We are so grateful for their wonderful support!

Job Specification

Project Manager for Alcohol Education Trust programme on alcohol and cannabis for vulnerable young people (aged 16-25)

Hours: 21 – 27 hours per week

Remuneration: subject to experience

Benefits: Pension/mileage

Length of contract: Permanent position

Purpose of Role:

The Alcohol Education Trust is a charity with 12 years’ experience of providing alcohol education and awareness in different ways, to young people age 11–25, and their parents/carers, and of providing engaging and evidence-based resources for teachers, community leaders and for those working with young people. We work across England and Scotland with schools, local authorities, youth groups, foster agencies, police, housing associations, pupil referral units, special schools and parents/carers to provide holistic support to young people of all abilities, bringing people together across different communities and settings.

The Project Manager will help fulfil the Alcohol Education Trust's new remit to support young adults age 16 – 25 at higher risk of alcohol and cannabis related harm, especially those leaving care or at risk of unemployment, homelessness and residents in assisted living accommodation such as Foyer and YMCA settings.

Main Responsibilities:

• Support life coaches, partner charity professionals and those supporting young adults on a day-to-day basis with training, resources, email and phone support. Host implementation and guidance workshops for the above on how to use the Talk About Alcohol (TAA) alcohol and cannabis programme with a target of 36 workshops per annum with an additional goal of a further 50 remote introduction and familiarisation sessions.

• To contact, research, meet and network with suitable settings, local authorities, Public Health and relevant networks and groups in each geographical area specified with a particular focus on areas where alcohol related harms are highest as well as areas of high deprivation. There are two geographical areas, London and The East/South East of England and all of Scotland and Isles.

• Extend the remit to vulnerable young adults in education and further education as the programme expands and mainstream schools in areas of high deprivation or where alcohol related harms are highest.

• Partner, with AET staff, on developing a peer-to-peer element for young adults on alcohol and cannabis aimed at building confidence, self-esteem and employability.

• Provide a monthly report of all activities to the charity and its trustees on sessions planned, delivered, contacts made, parents recruited for newsletter, resources given etc.

• Lead, record and evaluate the national 16 – 25 project on a quarterly basis, collating information from AET regional staff, young adults participating in the programme through Microsoft Forms, including a baseline measure and follow up indicators of changes in behaviour, attitudes, knowledge or beliefs. Record and evaluate professional development of professionals attending training and workshops and follow up on a regular basis.

• Provide full professional written reports on the evaluation, progress and data as required with the support of AET staff.

• Display a full understanding and compliance with data privacy, safeguarding and GDPR in all instances. Enhanced DBS will be required.

• Pilot new materials, adapt the programme, monitor web development, use and dissemination and respond to client needs and changes as required.

• Liaise with the CEO and Trustees and other AET staff as required. Attend remote monthly management meetings and briefings.

The position is home-based, but you must be willing to travel throughout Scotland or London/South East.

You are expected to:

• Be confident using IT packages including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

• Be confident in making presentations to professionals and running interactive workshops on alcohol and cannabis.

• Be sales focussed in researching and following up leads and contacts (although all resources/programme are free, you need to be assertive and proactive).

• Be consistent and thorough in your reporting each month.

• Have excellent interpersonal skills and telephone manner.

• Have a background of teaching/health promotion or working with vulnerable young people and or local authorities.
• Have good knowledge around alcohol and cannabis although full training will be given.

To work in accordance with the organisation’s policies and procedures.