Problem drinking tackled by Scottish whisky industry as issue soars in pandemic

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A rise in problem drinking during the Covid lockdown is being tackled by the Scottish whisky industry.Every year the Scotch Whisky Association sets aside £100,000 to fund community or charity projects.Charity Foundation Scotland runs the fund on behalf of the SWA and offers grants of up to £25,000 to help reduce the burden of alcoholism as well as supporting addicts and their families.The most recent figures show 1190 people died from alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 – a rise of 17 per cent from the year before – and there were 35,124 alcohol-related hospital ­admissions in 2020-21.But projects like Absafe in Aberdeen are working to prevent youngsters becoming dependent on alcohol.Absafe, a safety education charity ­dedicated to saving lives, secured funding last year from the Scotch Whisky Action Fund.Jennifer McPhail, funds adviser at Charity ­Foundation Scotland, said: “We have discovered since 2020, 80 per cent of people under 25 said their mental health had deteriorated over lockdown with stress and anxiety."The team from Absafe created a room to look like a playground and have children doing ­activities wearing ‘beer goggles’ to give them the feeling of being drunk and show them how it affects their perception of things.“A group of youth workers work with young people to talk about using alcohol safely and how to navigate peer pressure and make the right decisions without the influence of alcohol, which could impact on their lives.” For information about SWA funding click here.