FebFast 2012 recipients announced

Media Release
20 December 2011

FebFast 2012 recipients announced

The New Zealand Drug Foundation is delighted to announce the organisations to benefit from next year’s FebFast fundraising event.

FebFast challenges New Zealanders to give up alcohol during February 2012 to raise money via sponsorship for charities which work with young people affected by drugs or alcohol.

“It’s about giving a helping hand to people less fortunate than ourselves and also giving our bodies a chance to recover after the hectic festive season,” says FebFast Coordinator Catherine Milburn.

“We've chosen some really worthwhile organisations to benefit from FebFast 2012. They’re doing challenging work that makes a real difference in the lives of our young people.”

The recipient organisations for 2012 are:
• Evolve, a free Wellington service for young people aged 10 to 25 years. Evolve provides a wide range of general health, primary care and social services to assist youth. The funding it receives from FebFast will support a new programme for brief interventions with young people around alcohol and drug use. You can read more about Evolve at www.evolveyouth.org.nz.

• The ADHD Association, which educates, supports and advocates for people affected by ADHD. FebFast funding will support the development of a substance abuse educational resource for young people with ADHD. Research shows that this group are more prone to substance abuse. The DVD/study guide produced from FebFast funding will be a first in New Zealand for ADHD, and will be relevant to the many social agencies involved with this group. You can read more about the ADHD Association at www.adhd.org.nz.

• Rainbow Youth, Auckland. Queer and Transgender youth are more likely to drink often and heavily, more likely to drink alone, and more likely to have had family or friends tell them to reduce their drinking. Rainbow Youth wants to change the way alcohol and drug use is viewed, and will use its FebFast funding to raise awareness of the issues, for example through the use of blogs on the www.curious.org.nz and the www.rainbowyouth.org.nz sites.

• CareNZ, Waikato. Every year CareNZ helps more than 2700 people overcome addiction issues. FebFast funding will support an ongoing project that follows up focus group results collected from 14 schools. This will involve raising awareness of alcohol issues, the availability of help, and the need to diminish the harm caused by youth drinking in schools. You can read more about CareNZ at www.carenz.org.nz.
“We’re really excited about the projects these organisations are going to do,” says Catherine Milburn.

FebFast was held in New Zealand for the first time in 2011, coordinated by the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Nearly a thousand New Zealanders took part, either as individuals or as teams made up of friends, family or workmates.

More than $100,000 was raised for four youth charities in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

“We’re setting our sights high for 2012,” says Catherine Milburn. “We'll have a great team of ambassadors helping to promote FebFast and raise awareness of drug and alcohol issues, and we’re hoping that even more New Zealanders will take up the FebFast challenge.”
ENDS

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