PREPARE TO PARTY SAFELY!

Christmas is traditionally a time to party a little harder, but the downside of excessive drinking is that, at best, you may say something you will regret, at worst, you could be a victim of crime, assaulted, or end up in hospital.    

To help combat this, Stockport’s ‘Prepare to Party!’ Campaign provides top tips for a great time with no regrets as well as hints to help the recovery over the Christmas season.

Employers large and small are urged to share these tips with their teams when planning Christmas nights out, to help staff avoid the misery of alcohol-related harm and prevent the consequent impacts on their business.

The ‘Prepare to Party!’ campaign is part of the Safer Stockport Partnership’s Safer Winter campaign, which offers advice to Stockport residents on how to stay safe over the festive season.  The partnership joins together many public and voluntary organisations, including Stockport Council, Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group, and Greater Manchester Police. For more information the Safer Stockport Partnership, please visit www.saferstockport.org.uk

Healthy Stockport can offer friendly help and advice for anyone who thinks they may be drinking a little too much over Christmas and would like some practical ideas on how to cut down. 

For general advice about alcohol contact the Healthy Stockport on

0161 426 5085 – e-mail info@healthystockport.co.uk – www.healthystockport.co.uk

Anyone who feels they may be dependent on alcohol is encouraged to talk to the START team for advice on treatment and support options: call 0161 4743141 or visit www.stockportdrugsandalcohol.org

The top ten tips from the ‘Prepare to Party’ campaign are:    

Space your drinks with soft drinks or water.
This will stop you getting too dehydrated, helping avoid a nasty hangover!

Eat before you go out, or include a meal as part of the night.

Plan how to get home. Make sure you have taxi numbers & enough money to get home safely. 

Look after each other. 
Stay with your friends & look after anyone who has had too much to drink or taken other drugs. 

 Walk away
from signs of trouble– it’s easy to feel provoked but it’s not worth ending up in a police cell or hospital.

Think about sex!
If you fancy your chances, make sure you carry condoms.  Getting drunk doesn’t improve your chat up lines, your looks or your sexual performance.  And ‘taking advantage’ of someone who is drunk could lead to a charge of sexual assault or rape.

Beware the beer goggles effect! 
Too much alcohol can affect your judgement & lead to decisions you’ll live to regret!

Don’t get ‘spiked!
Don’t accept drinks from strangers or leave your drink unattended.

Keep your stuff:
drunks are easy targets for thieves and robbers…

Choose freedom from abuse:
Violent and abusive behaviour may get worse after drinking, if you experience this, think of an escape plan and talk to someone who can help – like the National Domestic Violence Helpline (24 hrs Free phone) 0808 2000 247.