The Midland Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force is running its annual Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week this week from November 10-14, with some 22 events taking place across Westmeath, Longford, Laois, and Offaly.
The Awareness Week was officially launched by Frances Black, singer and founder of the RISE Foundation, in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Monday.
Events in Athlone include a safer drinking campaign in AIT and an alcohol and drug awareness event in Clonbrusk Primary Care Centre.
Today, Thursday, from 11-2pm, students will be encouraged to take part in an interactive Safer Drinking Campaign in the campus canteen at Athlone Institute of Technology. The event, entitled ‘Get Real - Realistic, Educated, Aware, and Listen’, aims to provide students with key messages around safer drinking in order to encourage safety and self-regulation.
Tomorrow, Friday, an interactive alcohol and drug awareness event will be held from 10am - 2pm in Clonbrusk Primary Care Centre, Athlone. The aim of the morning is to engage the public in a range of interactive activites including quizzes, measuring alcohol units, and games to highlight levels of alcohol consumption on an average night out. Treatment and support services will also be there to provide relevant information in relation to the range of local drug and alcohol services available in the region.
The aim of the Awareness Week is to focus on increasing awareness about drug and alcohol-related issues and to highlight the drug and alcohol support services available to people in the Midlands.
Speaking at Monday’s launch, Frances Black said: “I am honoured and delighted to be associated with the launch of the MRDATF Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week. From my work with the RISE Foundation dealing with families who have a loved one in addiction, I am only too aware of the impact of alcohol on families and I believe the events which have been organised for this week are invaluable.”
