From July 3rd to 9th, it is Alcohol Awareness Week! An annual campaign to raise awareness of alcohol effects and what we can do to reduce our intake and become alcohol-free. Supported by Alcohol Change UK, the UK's leading alcohol charity. 

Alcohol is a part of many of our lives. It is treated differently to other drugs; it's legal, socially acceptable and sometimes even encouraged. Yet every hour, one person dies in the UK as a result of alcohol. Alcohol can harm us physically and mentally, increasing the chances of liver disease, cancer, financial difficulties and harming our personal and professional lives. 

This year's theme for Alcohol Awareness Week is Alcohol and Cost. On an individual scale, people spend tens of thousands of pounds on alcohol over a lifetime! And the cost to society, including the NHS, emergency services, police and workplaces, is estimated to be at least £21 billion each year! 

By joining in with raising awareness in your workplaces, on how alcohol can negatively affect us and society, you will be making positive steps for change, which will help save money and lives - it's not about stopping alcohol completely, it is about alcohol change, drinking as a conscious choice, not a default where issues can lead to alcohol problems

The amount we spend on alcohol can be huge! So we might expect the benefits of drinking to be big also. But the truth is, alcohol can bring with it enormous personal costs, not only for our budgets but for our bodies too. 

It can put us at greater risk of liver disease, stroke, increased blood pressure, cancer including throat cancer and breast cancer. It can also affect our mental health, as alcohol is a depressant it can negatively affect the balance of chemicals in our brain.  Alcohol can also increase tensions and disagreements with those around us. It can also be a big strain on our finances, with one drink leading to another, causing us at times to be significantly out-of-pocket. Lastly, it can leave us time poor, with low energy, poor sleep and cause us to spend more time recovering from a hangover than being able to do other things!

By taking control, we can save money, gain back more time for ourselves, improve our health and memory, increase energy, reduce our anxiety and improve our mood and relationships

Use the links below to get you started on having a more conscious thought and choice when it comes to drinking!

Here at Wellbeing at Work we have created and collated a variety of resources together to support in reducing alcohol intake to improve wellbeing. This is to help support Wellbeing Champions and Businesses in providing an awareness of current data around alcohol, how it affects our health and our workplaces. 

To find out more - check out the links below:

There are services within Plymouth that can provide support to help reduce your intake and improve your relationship with alcohol. 

AA - weekly sessions, every Friday evening 6:30pm until 9pm at St Matthias Church on North Hill, PL4 8HF. These groups are for those who need support, those who are supporting others and for those who want to find out more on what Alcoholics Anonymous do - all are welcome!

Harbour Centre Plymouth - supporting anyone affected by the use of alcohol and drugs, including family and friends of users.

Our team would like to invite you to take part in an interactive FREE discussion on Eating Healthy and Exercising in the Workplace taking place on Wednesday 12th of July from 10:00am until 11:30am. Guest speakers for the event are Diane Gavin, Health Improvement Practitioner and Rebecca Townley, Advanced Health Improvement Practitioner and Exercise Specialist from Livewell Southwest.

As part of the webinar, we will also provide an opportunity for you to hear about the latest developments on Wellbeing at Work as well as to network with other businesses and champions.

On Thursday 22nd June we had a virtual Gambling Harms Workshop! 
Kai McConkey, Community Engagement Lead for the South West of England, from the Addiction Recovery Agency joined us for this workshop. With real experiences, Kai discussed gambling and gambling related harms, including how it affects our self-esteem, relationships, physical and mental health, work performance and social life.

Due to popularity, we have arranged for another workshop to commence on Wednesday 22nd of November for FREE! To find out more and book your next workshop click the link below...

In June, there was #MensHealthWeek! We celebrated the Male Wellbeing Champions within our Programme who do some amazing wellbeing work within their organisations.

With that, we spoke to one of our champions Dave Tebb. He provided us with some inspirational thoughts about improving our wellbeing!

We don't need to think big when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes it's the little things that count....

In June we had #BikeWeek!
A great campaign to get out cycling and encourage others to do the same in their workplaces! 

With that, We have caught up with Plessey Semiconductors who have prided themselves on improving their facilities for more employees to cycle to work, to improve wellbeing.

Plessey have also celebrated one of their employees, Steve Brown, a wellbeing champion who has cycled to work for 32 years - wow!

In support of Bike Week we wanted to use this to encourage you all to start cycling more, to improve your health and wellbeing, save money as well as help improve our environment! 

With that, we had a chat with one of our team members at Wellbeing at Work, Andrew Pratt, Health Improvement Specialist to discuss his passion for cycling, the benefits of getting on the bike and why we should all cycle more!

Our Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Applied Suicide Intervention Skills (ASIST) and safeTALK are live on our website, making it easier for you to find out more about our courses, contact us for more information and to book your next training session! 
To find out more by clicking the links below... 

Wellbeing at work offers a wide range of professional and accredited wellbeing training programmes to help support businesses in delivering a healthier and happier workforce.

Training is easily accessible with the majority being free - virtual or face to face. 

 

Upcoming Campaigns