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CAP’s primary purpose is to support the development of effective local strategies to prevent underage drinking and enhance the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
The national CAP organisation identifies local needs, facilitates the assembly of the local CAP partnership, offers start-up funding and expert advice, provides a toolkit of interventions, shares best practice gathered across the national CAP network and supplies a rigorous evaluation system. A key part of our support offer is a team of highly skilled regional Advisers whose role is to provide advice and support to local partnerships.
Each local CAP scheme or project will devise an action plan that is uniquely tailored to local need with the overarching aims to protect children and young people from alcohol harm, enhance their health and wellbeing and improve local communities.
All action plans are based on three key pillars namely:
Alcohol
education
We aim to respond to individuals’ needs and circumstances.
Provision of positive activities
We never forget that people are at the heart of everything that we do.
Responsible retail strategies
We know we can make a greater difference by working with others
Since 2017, we also encourage CAPs to include an objective around moderate/safe drinking for 18-25 year olds.
Local CAP schemes are established and run by people from a variety of organisations within their communities, including retailers, to identify and tackle the problems associated with alcohol consumption by young people.
Each local partnership identifies its own priorities - these might include reducing alcohol related anti-social behaviour, alcohol litter, proxy purchase, sales to under 18s, parents supplying children with alcohol, vulnerability of children or young adults and safeguarding of children from sexual exploitation.
At an early stage, every scheme will appoint a co-ordinator who agrees to chair meetings and lead the partnership – this role is commonly taken on by someone in the Police, Trading Standards or Public Health. Partners jointly agree on an action plan which is reviewed regularly (monthly for at least a year to 18 months) and key partners take responsibility for carrying out agreed actions.
Every scheme is required to carry out a baseline and post-intervention evaluation, using key metrics and a clear, easy to use evaluation framework linked to their CAP’s objectives.
After delivering a locally tailored action plan and evaluating its impact, all CAP schemes are encouraged to join our CAP+ programme in which partners continue to meet regularly - though less frequently - to ensure that progress is maintained against key agreed objectives and metrics.
