A campaign being launched today is urging young people to Take it Easy and enjoy their end of year celebrations safely.
Run by Youth Solutions, in partnership with Campbelltown Catholic Club, the Take it Easy campaign will be delivered across three months from November to January, with the aim of encouraging young people and the wider Macarthur community to take positive steps to make their nights out and festive celebrations safer.
The campaign is being unveiled at a media launch at Campbelltown Catholic Club today (October 30), which includes special presentations, giveaways and an important message about celebrating safely.
The Take it Easy campaign aims to encourage people to recognise, set and stick to their own limits when drinking alcohol. It also encourages young people to look out for their friends and plan ahead to ensure their nights out end on a good note rather than turning sour.
Targeted at young people aged 18 – 25, the Take it Easy campaign is part of the Safer Celebrations project which has been run by Youth Solutions and supported by Campbelltown Catholic Club for the past six years.
“It’s really encouraging to see that during the past few years of this project, young people are increasingly taking steps to ensure they remain safe when heading out with their friends, such as telling people where they are going, sticking with their friends, looking out for each another and avoiding situations which could lead to arguments or violence,” Youth Solutions chief executive officer Geraldine Dean said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“But we have found that an alarming number of young people are still binge drinking at risky levels. So this campaign is all about telling our young people that it’s OK to set yourselves limits when drinking alcohol to ensure you have a good night out instead of a regrettable one.[/social_quote]
“We want to provide young people with the information they need and some practical tips to ensure that they can stay in control and be safe when heading out and drinking alcohol. We want to let them know it’s OK to Take it Easy and sit out a round, drink water between alcoholic drinks or take other steps to keep safe.
“We hope this campaign can play an important role in preventing alcohol and other drug elated harm to young people in our community and protecting against the loss of young lives.”
Throughout the next three months the campaign’s messages will be shared on the Youth Solutions website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, as well as through radio and newspaper advertisements and editorials.
Posters containing campaign health promotion messages will also be displayed throughout the region and have been sent to all secondary schools in Macarthur, targeting school leavers.
The Youth Solutions team will also be on hand at Campbelltown Catholic Club on Friday night’s during November and December to chat with patrons, hand out promotional items and Safer Celebrations Guides and survey young people.
Campbelltown Catholic Club will also offer free soft drinks to all designated sober drivers who register their details when they sign in to the club during November and December.
For more information about the campaign visit the youth solutions website or connect with Youth Solutions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube.
To be mailed a resource pack, contact Amanda on 4628 2319 | amanda@youthsolutions.com.au.
