2020 has been challenging for us all – but for those facing problems with alcohol even more so. Our research has shown that 18% of daily drinkers have increased the amount they are drinking since lockdown. Those who drank most often before the pandemic are more likely than others to be drinking even more.
We need your help
Around 8.6 million UK adults are drinking more since lockdown - we need your help more than ever.
Alcohol harm is not inevitable. But we cannot reduce alcohol harm alone. We need your help.
Over 200,000 children live with an alcohol dependent parent or carer
Alcohol has wider impacts than many of us realise. Heavy drinking is linked to mental health problems, family conflict, and inter-partner violence – all of which have been made worse by the pandemic. In England alone, over 200,000 children live with an alcohol dependent parent or carer, and without school and wider family support these children have been particularly vulnerable.
Our research suggests that more than 3.5 million adults are living in homes where conflict is worse during lockdown as a result of alcohol. The figures are even higher for households with children. One in seven people with children reported that alcohol had increased tensions.
Lizzie's* story
“Since lockdown things have been harder. I have had to stop my therapy sessions, and there have been a couple times I have thought, I could just drink that whole bottle that’s still hanging around from Christmas... Everywhere online people are talking about drinking to respond to our current situation and honestly it breaks my heart, because I don’t want to be numb anymore. I’m part of a support group online run by Alcohol Change UK, and I’m using that plus remembering all the positives of getting control of my drinking to help me keep going during lockdown.”
We’re here to help
The good news is that help is still available. At Alcohol Change UK we play a vital role, helping people to find alcohol services in their area which are able to offer support even during lockdown, and providing support to tens of thousands of people online via our peer support groups and website advice hub. In the first months of lockdown visits to the 'Get help now' section of our website were up almost 400% compared to the same time last year. By September more than half a million people had visited our website. Many are using our Try Dry app to monitor their drinking.
Through our Blue Light programme we work with some of the UK's most vulnerable people, those often called 'change-resistant' drinkers -– and this group faces particular challenges as a result of COVID-19. Through the Blue Light programme we train local services to support these people, who are too often considered to be ‘beyond help’. That saves the NHS and other frontline services money, and more importantly it changes lives.
We need you
Alcohol harm is not inevitable. But we cannot reduce alcohol harm alone. We need your help. Please give a gift of £10 today or whatever you can afford. The more we work together, the more people we can reach, and the more lives will be improved during this difficult time.
Your support will help to provide vital information and advice, support more people through the Blue Light programme, and help us to campaign so that alcohol treatment services are properly funded and able to support those who need them during the pandemic and beyond.
Please give a gift of £10 today or whatever you can afford. The more we work together, the more people we can reach, and the more lives will be improved during this difficult time. Thank you.