Conference Report - Our relationship with alcohol

Our Relationship with Alcohol - join the conversation
Kilmarnock College, Monday 3rd October 2011

As part of East Ayrshire’s Alcohol Awareness Week 2011 South West Scotland CJA hosted an interactive panel discussion at Kilmarnock College. It involved a mixed audience of local and national organisations, young people and other local residents.

Over the past year, South West Scotland Community Justice Authority (CJA) has undertaken a programme of work around alcohol and offending. At the centre of this programme of work lies our recognition of the significant impact of both alcohol misuse and offending behaviour on our communities. We acknowledge that both the causes and the solutions are complex and intertwined, and have discussed the gap between how we feel about our country (a strong ‘pride’ in Scotland – which is an asset) and what we actually see and experience in our local communities (Scotland’s culture of alcohol – which is a challenge).

However we understand that no single organisations or initiative will solve this problem – people themselves need to be empowered to make changes for the better, and communities and families will solve this issue, not “an initiative”. We are therefore asking all partners to continue to work constructively together to change Scotland’s relationship with alcohol. In doing so we believe we will contribute to reducing re-offending and building a safer, stronger and healthier Scotland.

Our Relationship with Alcohol - Conference Report