26 January 2012
Green Party co-leader supports FebFast youth charities

Green Party Co-Leader Metiria Turei will stop drinking alcohol in February to raise much-needed funds for four drug and alcohol youth charities.

She’s an ambassador for the New Zealand Drug Foundation’s FebFast fundraiser and will lead a team of Green MPs taking part. She’s encouraging others to join her in an alcohol-free month.

“By giving up alcohol for just a month, I can take stock of how much I drink and when, and it’s a good chance to model a different way of being in a social context,” she says.

“I expect to significantly increase my water intake over February – that can only be a good thing!”

FebFast starts on 1 February and participants will raise money via online sponsorship for charities working with young people affected by alcohol or drug issues. Last year’s FebFast raised more than $100,000 for youth charities.

For details on how to register, visit www.febfast.org.nz. Money raised this year will support drug and alcohol programmes run by four organisations: Evolve (Wellington), Rainbow Youth (Auckland), CareNZ (Waikato), and the ADHD Association.

Metiria Turei says alcohol is a drug like any other, and it’s worth taking a break from drinking to think about how it is being used.

“It’s only when you stop for a while that you realise how pervasive alcohol is as a social lubricant. At every barbie, every function, alcohol is present. You can see how difficult it must be for young people trying to manage the often mixed messages they get about alcohol use and abuse.

“Young people bear the effects of these mixed messages, even though grown-ups are responsible for sending them. FebFast provides an opportunity to show that grown-ups can be sensible about alcohol. That’s a good message to send.”

ENDS

About the recipient organisations for FebFast 2012:
• 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 on-going 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.

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