Home Start Garioch amongst groups to benefit from £35,000 funding to tackle alcohol harm
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The Scotch Whisky Action Fund has announced that three projects in the north of Scotland are among funding recipients to be supported over the coming year as part of the industry’s ongoing commitment to tackling alcohol misuse.
Amongst the organisations selected this year is Home Support Garioch, a volunteer support organisation for young families based in Inverurie which is receiving its first year of funding.
Also selected were Addictions Counselling Inverness, an addiction support charity, and Absafe, a safety charity based in Aberdeen, which are receiving their second and third years of funding respectively to support ongoing work.
Home Start Garioch supports those across Aberdeenshire bringing up young families.
This project will provide counselling to families whose lives and mental health have been impacted by a family member’s alcohol dependency.
With this funding they will organise 200 hours’ worth of counselling, which equates to approximately 25-33 individuals receiving six to eight counselling sessions each.
The sessions will take place at the project’s office in Inverurie.
Scheme manager at Home Start Garioch Mhairi Philip said: "We are seeing first-hand the lasting impact the pandemic has had on families, parents who are struggling to cope, have turned to alcohol to make things more bearable.
"For the other parent and the children, the reliance on alcohol is yet another trauma for them to deal with and the ripple effect that it has.
"As an organisation we can provide support to the family members impacted by a parents alcohol dependence.
"The money awarded will provide one to one counselling for those family members.
"A safe space when they can share and be listened to.
"Being able to speak, being listened to and being heard goes a long way towards their recovery and improved family relationships.”
Addictions Counselling Inverness provide addiction support.
Having received Scotch Whisky Action Fund support in 2021, this year’s funding will be used to continue to deliver a free counselling service to individuals who are affected by the alcohol use of a close family member.
Development manager at Addictions Counselling Inverness Sharan Brown said: “Scotch Whisky Action Fund funding has given Addictions Counselling Inverness the scope to create multi pathways within our service.
"Our one to one counselling service has grown to group therapy and recovery capital opportunities for loved ones.
"We facilitate monthly family support gatherings inhouse which has increased the love, care and esteem of people who were previously incredibly isolated dealing with traumatic events.
"During times of such uncertainty, Addictions Counselling Inverness has been incredibly grateful for the funding we received.
"We know our work saves lives and plays an important role in keeping our families together in our struggling communities during the most challenging of times.”
Absafe, which operates in Aberdeen and specialises in safety education, is receiving Scotch Whisky Action Fund support for the third year running.
Their project will tackle the portrayal of alcohol in the media with young people, exploring and giving them strategies with ways they might handle peer pressure and other difficult situations which involve drinking.
Project manager at Absafe Kairn McKee said: “We are absolutely delighted to be supported by the Scotch Whisky Action Fund for another year.
"Without the support of Scotch Whisky Action Fund we would not have been able to continue running our life saving educational sets with groups of young people from our local area.
"With the continued funding, we plan to update the content within the set to stay on top of current issues, which are always changing among young people, and to offer our service to a wider range of users such as youth clubs and out of school groups, as well as continuing to run our educational sessions for groups of school children.”
Dame Joan Stringer, who chaired the awards panel, said: “Tackling harmful alcohol consumption is a key issue for Scotland.
"These projects are undertaking important work, and we look forward to supporting them over the coming year.”
