MAJOR supermarkets are part of a campaign to help tackle problem underage drinking.

A Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) has been set up to highlight the risks of underage drinking and improve the health and wellbeing of local young people.

The CAP launched in Scarborough this week (July 21), will work with youth services and local organisations to provide alcohol-free activities for young people. It will also work with local schools to take a proactive approach to alcohol education and ensure that young people are equipped to make the right decisions about issues including alcohol and drugs and anti-social and criminal behaviour. Working with local retailers aims to help them avoid making underage sales and reduce ‘proxy’ sales where adults buy alcohol for under-18s.

Some of the members of the Scarborough Community Alcohol Partnership including police, fire and rescue, Scarborough Borough Council community safety team and retailers CAPs are made up of partnerships between local authorities, police, schools, retailers, neighbourhood groups and health providers, working together to prevent alcohol-related harm to young people and improve the quality of life for residents. 217 schemes have now been launched across England, Scotland and Wales.

In Scarborough, partners include North Yorkshire Police, the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards, Scarborough Borough Council Community Safety and Safeguarding, local schools and retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons and Lidl.

Kate Winstanley, Director of Community Alcohol Partnerships, said: “I am delighted to see the launch of a CAP in Scarborough. Underage drinking is associated with school and educational problems, unprotected sex, drug-taking, violence and drinking problems in later life. In just over a decade CAP has set up more than 200 partnerships around the UK and our evaluations show they are having a significant impact on reducing children’s alcohol consumption, improving their health and wellbeing and enhancing the communities where they live.”

Chief Inspector Rachel Wood of North Yorkshire Police’s Scarborough and Ryedale Command Team, added: “We are pleased to be working as part of the Community Alcohol Partnership to help reduce some of the harm that alcohol causes in our communities and the detrimental affect it can have on our young people.

“We can’t do it alone and working together with support from the CAP using a combination of education, information and enforcement, provides a much more holistic approach to reducing and preventing the antisocial behaviour and sometimes more serious incidents that are caused by alcohol.

“My thanks go to all the partner agencies and retailers involved for their support and enthusiasm, I look forward to working together over the coming months.” Community Alcohol Partnership logo Sandra Rees BEM, Scarborough Borough Council Community Safety and Safeguarding Manager, added: “We are committed to being part of the partnership to improve the lives of local young people and the well-being of the borough’s communities.

“By showing young people the serious effects underage drinking has on them and those around them, and the actions they can take to ensure a better outcome for themselves and others, we aim to put them at the heart of improving their life chances and being part of building a better borough for all.”

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott, said: “Alcohol can be the trigger for so many problems among our young people so I am pleased to see a Community Alcohol Partnership being set up in Scarborough. In time, I hope it is a really positive influence on the area and thank everyone involved in the partnership for coming together to support teenagers and young adults, and by doing so to improve the entire community.”

North Yorkshire County Councillor Andrew Lee, Executive Member for Trading Standards, added: “The County Council is excited to be supporting this initiative and enthusiastic to build on the excellent work of our Trading Standards and Public Health teams in implementing the objectives of the North Yorkshire alcohol strategy. We look forward to working with partners and supporting our retailers, who are key to the success of the programme. We are confident it will be of benefit to the area.”