Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs) are made up of partnerships between local authorities, police, schools, retailers, neighbourhood groups and health providers, working together to highlight the risks of underage drinking and improve the health and wellbeing of local children and young people.

The West Berks CAP will work with youth services and local organisations to provide alcohol-free activities for young people. It will also work with local schools to educate young people about underage drinking and ensure that they are equipped to make the right decisions about issues such as alcohol and drugs and anti-social and criminal behaviour.

Working with local retailers CAP aims to help them avoid making underage sales and reduce ‘proxy’ sales where adults buy alcohol for under-18s.

The CAP brings together organisations including West Berkshire council, Thames Valley Police, schools, alcohol services and local retailers to reduce the crime, anti-social behaviour and harm caused by underage drinking.

Derek Lewis, Chair of CAP comments:

"I am always pleased to see the launch of new partnerships.”

“We know from research that underage drinking can lead to many social and educational problems for children and young people. We also know from our evaluations that CAPs are having a significant impact on reducing alcohol consumption amongst 13- and 16-year-olds in the areas in which they operate.”

“Local CAP schemes are established and run by people from a variety of organisations within their communities, including retailers, local authorities, police forces and schools to identify and tackle the problems associated with underage drinking. All CAPs are tailored to the needs of their local community which means that they are highly effective in getting to the root cause of the problem."

About Community Alcohol Partnerships:

CAPs bring together a range of local stakeholders with a shared interest in preventing underage drinking and encouraging responsible drinking among young adults. There are over 250 CAPs in England, Scotland and Wales.

A rigorous evaluation framework shows how this innovative partnership approach has brought significant reductions in alcohol supply to children, alcohol-related anti-social behaviour and underage street drinking, with CAP areas demonstrating:

• 61% average reductions in weekly drinking among 13–16-year-olds
• 99% of retailers passed Challenge 25 compliance test for alcohol sales
• 86% of retailers did not sell alcohol when they suspected it was a ‘proxy’ sale
• 50% reduction in young people hanging around shops and asking adults to buy alcohol for them
• 42% reduction in youth alcohol-related anti-social behaviour For more information see: www.communityalcoholpartnerships.co.uk