Alcohol campaign launches at local school

Blackburn Central High School played host this week to the launch of Blackburn with Darwen Council’s new campaign to make young people aware of the dangers of drinking alcohol too young.

‘Totally wasted’ is a four-part series of short films produced to highlight how, if you’re young, alcohol can ruin more than just your profile – it can mess with your life.

The project was produced by the Council working in partnership with local design agency TPW and young Blackburn film maker Aeman Ali Afzal.

The launch event on Wednesday, November 26 saw every year group from the school being given the chance to watch the film over the course of five special assemblies.

Representatives from the Council, TPW and Lifeline were on hand to give the pupils a background to the film, its making, discuss issues around alcohol and young people and field questions that they had.

Pupils were told that in designing the film young people of all ages – including those from Blackburn Central High School – were spoken to to understand their awareness of and attitudes towards drinking alcohol at a young age.

These conversations helped to inform the film’s script and typical circumstances when alcohol might be consumed by young people – highlighting various ways in which lives can be ’wasted’ by starting to drink too young.

Representatives from the Darwen-based Café Hub were also present to give pupils a taste of some special mocktails created for the occasion.

Councillor Mohammed Khan, Executive Member for Health Adult Social Care, said:

“This was a fantastic event – full credit to the school and all of its pupils who were really engaged by the film and clearly taking on board the messages in it. They asked lots of questions at the end of each session about alcohol and its effects.

“We wanted to put together a campaign that would be influenced by and aimed at young people to let them see that if you drink alcohol too early in your life it can have a negative impact on your image, on your profile and on your health.

“We also wanted something that would let young people know that there are places – like Lifeline – that they can go locally if they have any questions or concerns about alcohol.”