Alcohol Change

Alcohol Change UK works to end the harm caused by alcohol. You might know of us through the globally recognised Dry January® challenge, an annual event which sees hundreds of thousands of us go alcohol-free for the month of January.

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As part of our ambitious five-year strategy, our work is focused on five interlinking priorities:

• Shifting drinking culture through our campaigns
• Changing drinking behaviours
• Improving understanding (of all the risks so we can make informed choices)
• More and better alcohol treatment
• Better policy and regulation

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We have a wonderful team of 45 employees, and we're continuing to grow. We recently moved to Unit 7 at FBC Clerkenwell, and we welcome anyone who wants to come and chat to us about issues connected with alcohol.

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You can learn more about us here...

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Who are your founders and what is the origin story of the charity?

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Alcohol Change UK was formed from the merger of Alcohol Concern and Alcohol Research UK in April 2017. Our new charity launched in November 2018.

Alcohol Concern, founded in 1984, has a history of campaigning, working with the treatment sector, and supporting people directly. Alcohol Research UK (previously the Alcohol Education and Research Council) was founded in 1982, and has funded over 800 projects aiming to build the evidence base to reduce alcohol harm.

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Do you have a claim to fame moment, a proudest moment or time you made it into the news?

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A few highlights include: Creating the Dry January® challenge in 2013 into the global phenomenon it is today – enabling hundreds of thousands of people to change their relationship with alcohol for the better. This January, we even secured a spot on the BBC Breakfast sofa for our CEO Dr Richard Piper to discuss alcohol harm and our free Try Dry® app. Our fundraising team have also developed the Dry January® 10k race, taking place each year, which is a great way to come together to celebrate everyone’s achievements from the past month.

Separately, our policy and research teams have hosted many influential events in Parliament, meeting hundreds of MPs and Peers to talk about alcohol harm and evidence-based solutions. And our Consultancy and Training team are busy delivering training to businesses, workplaces and Local Authorities to help make a more inclusive, safer future (get in touch to learn more!).

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What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a company?

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Like many organisations, we found the Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on our work, and we turned things around very quickly to ensure our team had everything they needed to work from home.

The stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic also spilled over into drinking habits across the nation. We saw a huge spike in visits to the support pages on our website during this time. As a result, we quickly commissioned new research looking into drinking habits in and out of lockdown to better understand the effects.

Our research showed that while some people drank less during the pandemic, around a third of us started drinking more. It was those of us who were already drinking heavily who tended to drink even more. So, we continued to share lots of information and advice to support individuals worried about their own, or someone else’s drinking.

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Do you have a favourite spot in Clerkenwell for lunch or drinks after work?

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We love Exmouth Market for lunch, especially the food stalls with a wide variety of cuisine, and have ordered event catering from The Grubberie. After work, we have found that the Betsey Trotwood does a nice selection of non-alcoholic/alcohol-free drinks, which works well for our team. As we're still relatively new to FBC and the area, we’d love any other recommendations of places for drinks that do a nice variety of alcohol-free/low alcohol drinks as well as the usual offerings.

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If you’re concerned about your own, or someone else’s, drinking, email contact@alcoholchange.org.ukor call 02039078480.

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For workplace training, email training@alcoholchange.org.uk.

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If you want to find out about fundraising for us, it’s fundraising@alcoholchange.org.uk, or to find out about other ways to get involved, email engagement@alcoholchange.org.uk.

All other information can be found on our website www.alcoholchange.org.uk

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