It’s Dryvember! This month, take the opportunity to scale back on your drinking. It could make a big impact not only on your health but also on your children. Take part in this challenge and you could also raise money for alcohol education. Helena Conibear, director of the The Alcohol Education Trust, challenges us to go teetotal for a short spell and tells us why we should:
As a busy working mum of two teenagers, what are my biggest worries? Like most parents, I expect, I want them to be healthy, be happy, do well at school, have a great relationship with each other and us. Well, that is what is at the heart of the work of The Alcohol Education Trust.
We train teachers and reach out to parents in schools across Britain to ensure kids stay safe around alcohol. 88% of us drink, most responsibly, but as parents, being good role models, setting boundaries and knowing where our kids are and who they are with helps delay the age our kids start drinking outside of the home and how often they get drunk.
Why Dryvember?
Why’s this important? The earlier our kids start drinking regularly, the less likely they are to do well at school. Once or twice a week and their grades drop by 20 points — that’s a fall from an A* to a C. They are also more likely to smoke and engage in other risky behaviours too.
As part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge and with match funding from the Childhood Trust, we are calling on BritMums bloggers to sign up to Dryvember – the Christmas PREtox Challenge. It’s a chance for all of us to raise funds for and awareness of the work of the Alcohol Education Trust while giving our bodies a break from alcohol in the process!
How to take the Dryvember Challenge
The Dryvember Challenge encourages participants to ditch the drink for the whole month, but it’s tailored to your needs too. Why not try a marathon of 26 days (four days off for special occasions), or even just a week’s break during Alcohol Awareness Week, from November 17-23?
Sign up here www.alcoholeducationtrust.org/dryvember and encourage your friends and family to sponsor you. My kids’ first reaction was, “You’ll never manage that, Mum!” I don’t need any more incentive than that personally.
If you feel you don’t want to go dry, but would still like to contribute, you can post an #alcofreseelfie in November and send a text donation to 70660 (£ and then amount). Or you can sponsor me: mydonate.bt.com/events/dryvember/186071.
Get more information about alcohol for your children
Active in schools throughout Britain, our approach to alcohol education aims to ensure teachers, parents and secondary school students all have access to the very best resources, support and information.You can learn more and sign up to parents’ newsletter here: http://www.alcoholeducationtrust.org/Pages/Parents/parenthome.html.
Picture by Andrea Obzerova / Shutterstock
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