Sergeant Scott Adams of Cumbria Police received the CAP of the Year (England) Award for Longtown CAP from Neil Eccles, Senior Manager at Asda, at the annual CAP celebration at the House of Lords on January 29.
Neil Eccles said: “Although it was only launched in 2018, Longtown CAP has already brought about a hugely impressive 80% reduction in anti-social behaviour. Before the CAP was launched there was no provision for young people in Longtown. The CAP has held engagement nights with local young people which led to partners working together to raise funds. The partnership has raised £8,000 so far which has enabled a room to be renovated at the community centre for local young people and for youth work to take place to engage with young people on the streets."
Barrow in Furness CAP received the CAP+ of the year award from Matthew Golledge, Trading Standards and Coroners Manager at Reading Borough Council. Presenting the award to Cath Corkhill of Dropzone and Andrew Travis of Barrow Police he said: “Barrow was the first CAP in Cumbria and has gone from strength to strength. It was an especially proud moment when young people taking part in its Young Health Champions course were invited to meet HRH Princess Anne to discuss their course and their roles as peer mentors to deliver positive health messages to other young people. Working with The Brathay Trust, Dropzone and Moorfield Learning Centre, Barrow CAP funded 10 places on the course for young people from alternative learning environments who could then support their peers to increase their health and well-being."
Copeland CAP won the CAP Award for Most Improved Locality. Tracy McFadden of Egremont Youth Partnership and Colette Harrison of Cumbria Police received award from Andrew Leaper, Retail Health and Safety Manager at The Co-operative Group.
Andrew Leaper said: ”A major issue for Copeland CAP was Egremont Crab Fair, a traditional annual event that in recent years has attracted a large number of youths whose drunkenness and anti-social behaviour gave the Fair a bad reputation, spoilt visitors’ enjoyment and took up police resources. CAP partners came up with a range of proactive actions before and during the event with the result that hardly any alcohol was seized from young people and there were no serious anti-social behaviour issues. Businesses, residents and visiting families welcomed CAP’s actions in making the Crab Fair a safe and enjoyable event."
CAPs are made up of partnerships between retailers, local authorities, police, schools, neighbourhood groups and health providers, working together to empower communities to tackle alcohol-related harm to young people and improve the quality of life for residents. The CAP 2019 annual report, launched at the House of Lords, shows how this innovative partnership approach has brought significant reductions in alcohol supply to children, alcohol-related anti-social behaviour and underage street drinking.
Evaluations for the period 2015-2019 show:
• 52% average reductions in regular drinking among 13-16 year olds
• 40% reductions in youth alcohol-related anti-social behaviour
• 80% improvement in Challenge 25 compliance following CAP training
• 90% reductions in residents reporting seeing under 18s drinking in the local area
• 77% reduction in young people hanging around shops and asking adults to buy alcohol for them
CAP Chair Derek Lewis said: “Underage drinking is associated with school and educational problems, unprotected sex, consumption of illicit drugs, violence and drinking problems in later life. We have been greatly encouraged to see emerging evidence that CAPs are reducing alcohol consumption by underage children. While the proportion of young people in England who regularly consume alcohol has dropped slowly between 2001 and 2018, the reductions achieved in CAP areas are even greater, with 52% average reductions in regular drinking among 13-16 year olds. We believe that this reflects the increasing emphasis on working with schools within the CAP areas.”
Ends
For media information please contact: Julia Shipston, Communications Manager at CAP: tel: 0771 3163003, email [email protected]
Notes for Editors
The first CAP was set up in St Neots in 2007 and 201 have now been launched across the UK.