Having come into this role in June 2024, I find myself very fortunate that I’ve had the ability to point towards the successes my two colleagues, Alan Simpson and Grahame Clark, have had delivering over 22 CAPs in Scotland to date. It’s much less of a challenge when you can point to working examples of working CAPs and they have allowed me that opportunity while engaging with new communities.

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My own varied background over the past 25 years has been working with a wide array of communities, from geographical communities in cities towns and villages to prisons, schools and within the third and public sector, and in many parts of the world. I feel I could sum up CAP in three words:  

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Make a Difference

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In my experience working within the criminal justice and family courts system, I have witnessed the devastation that can be caused by alcohol and its misuse in our communities especially its impact on young people. Being a part of the solution as CAP is, is something I am passionate about. I have, over the past few years, been working with young people in many different areas and this has again given me valuable insight into this issue.

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For example, I discovered when working within the prison system in Scotland, that many prisoners were there due to an offence which related to alcohol, and anecdotally, most had one common thread to their story, that alcohol consumption at an early age or indeed an alcoholic environment was correlated with the bad choices and harm in later life and their situation.

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I have also seen the results of alcohol misuse on young people in the Family Court System. Of course, this all has an impact on the communities involved and wider society in many negative ways. Therefore, I am driven to play my part in addressing such issues and working with my colleagues at CAP and the communities we serve.

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I have quickly come to realise that Community Alcohol Partnerships is not an organisation as such that comes into communities, puts down a flag and promises to fix its issues. A CAP partnership is not an organisation we set up.  It is a structure that we offer support to build within a community, a structure that builds strong partnerships allowing that community to identify and solve their own issues.  It is a community development or engagement tool in the true sense of the term.

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Why does this approach work? CAPs use an asset-based approach: a structure for communities to use their assets which are the people in them.  A CAP supports the bringing together of all partners as part of the solution with something to offer. It provides a safe space to support and to discuss the issues caused by underage drinking, thereby allowing them to address this in a more sustainable way because the community has full ownership of the process.

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So, I’m now feeling settled into my role, working closely with Grahame in Scotland. One of the main highlights for me has been helping to launch a new CAP in Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly, the first of its kind in Fife. We will see another CAP launched in Falkirk in January 2025. From there, I hope to see us progress our early discussions into launches in Alloa and Stirling soon after.

I’ve been very impressed by the work of my colleagues all around the UK and the different partners I have met around the country. I am looking forward to working with colleagues and partners wherever they may be into 2025.

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