Alcohol abuse: Problems in Preston

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Recent government guidelines on alcohol have stated that people should avoid drinking three days a week, while sticking to the unit limits.

Limits for men are 28 a week and 21 for women, but there have been many recent reports from the Department of Health that these days are necessary to save someone’s liver from life-threatening problems.

A statement issued last month accepted that these guidelines were ‘still being ignored’ and more needed to be done to make the risks of alcohol abuse more apparent to the public.

With the UK reaching the one million mark of hospital admissions relating to alcohol abuse in 2010, there are many problems to address.

The North West is recognised as the worst affected area for alcohol related problems, both in relation to health and social issues.

Onlookers note that the issue is ‘binge drinking’. Preston however, has many darker problems.

Diane Owen, Programme Leader for Alcohol for the Lancashire Public Health Network (LPHN), was recently involved in Alcohol Awareness Week for the county, where many plans were set in motion to help people in the area.

“We had a group get together to co-ordinate what’s happening across Lancashire and identify events that are going on."

The LPHN attempted to get a debate going on the effects of alcohol abuse and find the appropriate action to take.

“We tailor the needs to that district, recognising what is going on because good practice in one area might not be good for another."

Preston is also one of the worst affected areas relating to underage alcohol abuse.

“Overall, the North West is pretty bad. However, Lancashire compared to the North West is not too bad, but is still an issue.

“We need to work with young people. We’ve also got to remember that it’s only a small minority of young people who are actually getting worse; they’re drinking more than ever."

With the Director of Children’s Services recently stating that nobody should drink under the age of 15 and between the ages of 15 and 18, it should be done in a supervised manner. Owen is looking for more realistic targets.

One of the problems she has with alcohol distribution is the price that it is sold to the public.

She said; “It’s too cheap. You can get a bottle of cider for the same price as a bottle of water. Now that is just too cheap and too easy for people to get hold of."

There are some issues for the government to address in relation to underage drinking but Owen does see some positives from recent orders.

“We’ve reduced people getting hold of alcohol, getting access to drink through off-licences, pubs and clubs with the under-25 age limit ID checks."

Owen believes that education in schools is necessary for real change to happen, as they rarely discuss the issue.

The problem with changing the British culture towards alcohol is the fact that alcohol companies have millions of pounds spent on advertising their products.

“It’s a cultural shift that we need and this is going to take time, as we are up against the best advertising you can get. They have got loads of money to throw at advertising, encouraging you to drink."

Owen believes that the media are partly to blame for the public’s opinions towards alcohol.

“The problem is the press glamorise it and that makes people want to do the same. We need more positive messages rather than negative ones. I know they like to sensationalise, that’s what sells papers but they have got to remember that they are one of the causes of this."

Sarah Boseley, Health Editor for The Guardian believes that some of the media do not glamorise alcohol.

“If you look at the stories I have done on alcohol, I don’t think you will find any about celebrities.

“They are not the sort of thing that runs in The Guardian, with the exception of the death of Amy Winehouse. That was somewhat of a different issue and would not encourage anybody to drink.”

However, there are celebrities that have been reported on after drunken nights out, including Preston native, Andrew Flintoff.

In more serious cases, examples such as PNE star Clarke Carlisle in August being charged with drink driving.

Kelly Bracewell, the Assistant to the Chief Executive at Preston Domestic Violence Services, works with people who have suffered from alcohol abuse.

She said; “Domestic violence has the highest rate of repeat victimisation of any crime meaning that a large percentage of people in Preston experience many incidents of abuse."

The problem for Preston is that within the Lancashire County Council area, it has the highest rate of reported domestic violence. However, not all of them involve alcohol.

Bracewell believes that “Alcohol does not cause domestic violence but there is evidence that where the domestic violence exists, alcohol can often be present.

“However, it is important to remember that alcohol doesn’t remove our understanding of what is right and wrong."

One in four women in Preston will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives.

“We have found that alcohol is often used where young girls are exploited by much older men, or groups of men. Girls may be given alcohol to make them do things or provide sexual favours in exchange for alcohol."

Kathryn Coleman, the Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator for Preston Community Safety Partnership believes that there isn’t a problem with anti-social behaviour.

“Of the total ASBOs currently held in Preston, only 22% relate to people under the age of 18.

“Any approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour by young people, involving police and partners is incremental; using tools such as Acceptable Behaviour Contracts to try and tackle the behaviour prior to considerations of an ASBO."

Despite this positive for Preston, the percentage isn’t encouraging for the future as it has risen over the last few years and many anti-social behaviour crimes involve alcohol.

Tim Keightley is the Chief Executive for the Foxton Centre, who help the Homeless in the Central and Avenham areas of the city.

Homelessness is an extreme case of the effect of alcohol abuse, but Preston does have several programmes set up by Foxton to help them.

The centre offers many services to the homeless. There is the ‘wet garden’ and a street sex work programme, among others.

The ‘wet garden’ is a small walled-off section outside the centre, where homeless people with alcohol dependencies can come and talk to the people at the centre, to help deal with their issues.

Street Link programme is where people from the centre engage with sex workers, to help them move away from it. Not all of them do it to pay for their alcohol dependencies but some do.

Keightley said; “Street sex workers use heroin and crack which is supplemented by alcohol. The street homeless, take alcohol, supplemented by heroin."

However, there are some extreme cases of homelessness in Preston, where their reliance on alcohol is potentially life-threatening.

Keightley said; “Coming off alcohol is massively demanding physically, psychologically and people are just scared to do it. Alcohol is a massive part of their life. They are drinking 12-15 or more cans of strong lager all-day, everyday."

Owen agrees and is worried about the outcome of someone who just stops drinking.

“If you go cold-turkey on drugs you will not die. You’ll feel bad but you won’t die, if you detox yourself off alcohol, if you just come off it, go cold-turkey, you are at high risk of fitting."


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Alcohol abuse is a major problem for British society and with the NHS already spending over £55 billion a year, there is little funding to deal with the issue.

Places like Preston and the North West will suffer the most as the already worst hit areas, with help coming from fewer sources.

Phillip Morrison, 40, works as a caretaker and said; “I was 15 and it was at a festival, which doesn’t exist anymore."

When asked about the number of units the government guidelines state he can have a day, he said; “I don’t drink that much anymore, (so I would guess) 4 in a week? Doctors’ orders that!"

Stuart Robinson, 21, is a student. He said, “I think it was when I was about 12, back home in Scotland."

Rebecca Waites, 33, works as a nurse and said, “I was introduced to alcohol, probably about the age of 17, in a park."

Angela Melling, 24, is currently unemployed. She said, “I was 15 and I was at home when I was introduced to alcohol."

Avril Scott, 59, is a secretary and said; “I was 13, it was a family party and I had a baby champagne."

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