Drinkaware publishes the 2020 Annual Report and Financial Statements. 2020 was a busy year for our small but dedicated team. In 2019 Drinkaware challenged Ireland’s social norms and stereotypes regarding alcohol. In 2020 we witnessed measurable in-roads regarding the rewriting of that script and it’s safe to say, we made significant progress throughout the second year of our three-year Strategic Plan 2019-2021. As the national charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol misuse in Ireland, everything we do is focused in three key areas: Outreach and Engagement, Research and Education.
Download the 2020 Annual Report & Financial Statements
It is the trust that you have in us to deliver our mission that drives the team to keep working towards our two ambitious goals for a healthier society: 1) To delay the age of first drink, and 2) Reduce the number of adults who drink more than the low-risk weekly guidelines.
Highlights from 2020 include:
- More than half a million people visited Drinkaware’s website (+5% on 2020), with almost 2 million pageviews on drinkaware.ie and an increase of +392% in engagements on Facebook. These increases clearly show a growing appetite for understanding drinking habits and making changes to protect physical and mental health
- Over 96,000 health promotion resources were ordered nationwide, including our popular standard drink measure cups, booklets, drinks calculators and posters.
- Publication of the 2020 Barometer, our annual survey conducted with Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A) measuring the shift in behaviours, attitudes and motivations surrounding alcohol during the initial lockdown period
- Public awareness health promotion campaigns, support national and international awareness events to encourage the public to recognise the link between alcohol and different health problems including cancer, heart disease and mental health, and enable positive changes to reduce risks
- The completion of four substantial research reports, including: The qualitative study, Understanding (intentional/unintentional) Binge Drinking in the Home in Ireland and the Year 2 evaluation of the Drinkaware Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme (JC AEP)
- A number of successful submissions to both national and international conferences during 2020 including: SPHeRE (Structured Population and Health Services Research Education) Conference 2020 and European Society for Prevention Research Conference 2020
- Four Research Breakfast Briefings, attracting various stakeholders in healthcare and education
- The development of the Transition Year Alcohol Education Programme, to build upon the (JC AEP) due to requests from principals and teachers.