The Scotch Whisky Action Fund (SWAF) has announced the list of six projects that it will be supporting over the coming year as part of the industry’s ongoing commitment to tackling alcohol misuse with two capital projects – Edinburgh Young Carers and U-evolv, which is based at FetLor Youth Club – set to benefit.
The announcement, which comes during Alcohol Awareness Week (11 to 17 November 2019), is an outcome of the decision made by the independent awards panel chaired by Dame Joan Stringer. Applications were received from initiatives across Scotland who are helping to address the problems caused by the misuse of alcohol.
Margaret Murphy, Chief Executive at Edinburgh Young Carers, said: “The funding support received from the Scotch Whisky Action Fund is very much appreciated and will make a huge difference in the lives of some of the most vulnerable young carers.
“This will enable us to build on our well-being service for young carers and achieve our overarching aim which is to ensure that young carers caring for a parent(s) with alcohol addiction issues are safe, better able to cope at home and to lower the risk of them developing alcohol abuse issues.”
The Scotch Whisky Action Fund was launched in 2013 and is administered by Foundation Scotland. Funding is given to projects taking an innovative approach to addressing the issues around alcohol misuse within a community or section of society.
Dame Joan Stringer, who chaired the awards panel, said: “The six projects that the SWAF will be supporting over the coming year will be deploying innovative ways to help combat the problems caused by alcohol misuse. We are greatly looking forward to seeing the progress they make.”
By 2023, the Fund will have provided £1million of support, and yesterday’s announcement brings the number of individual initiatives awarded funding to 48. The SWAF also holds an annual learning event, bringing project representatives together to network, share learnings and identify and discuss common issues.
Douglas Meikle, Head of Alcohol Policy at the Scotch Whisky Association, said: “The Scotch Whisky Action Fund is an important keystone of a responsible industry.
“The varied selection of projects that are awarded funding have demonstrated incredible ingenuity in their approaches to addressing alcohol abuse. We look forward to seeing the results of these initiatives over the coming year and beyond.”
In addition to these two Edinburgh projects, a further four have been selected from across Scotland to be supported by the SWAF including Absafe in Aberdeen, Paisley YMCA, MENSELF+ in Glasgow and the Govan Youth Information Project.
Darran Gillan, Youth Programme & Development Manager at Paisley YMCA, said: “Thanks to the Scotch Whisky Action Fund young people have the opportunity to develop an interactive platform to engage in a deeper conversation on the impact of youth culture and its relationship with alcohol, using immersive technology called TouchCast with Virtual Reality content.
“This innovative project would not have been possible without the support of the SWAF who are supporting this peer led programme. Young people will co-develop all aspects of the VR scenarios and Touchcast content to showcase through schools and youth clubs across Renfrewshire.”
Kim Woolner, Interim Chief Executive at Absafe, said: “We were thrilled to learn that SWAF would be supporting Absafe’s new Alcohol Safety Set.
“The Set will allow us to educate school children, in Aberdeen City and Shire, on alcohol-related issues, meaning that we will be able to spread the message wide, to their families and communities, on the potential risks and dangers of alcohol misuse and abuse, encouraging more responsible behaviour and attitudes towards alcohol safety.”
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