addaction
Helping ex-offenders
avoid alcohol abuse
Beer Promoters
43
In the UK, Heineken has been building strategic community
partnerships that pilot innovative ways to encourage responsible
alcohol consumption and reduce harm caused by alcohol misuse.
One such partnership is with Addaction, the UK's largest drug and
alcohol treatment charity.
In 2010, Heineken and Addaction launched a three-year project
to support people with alcohol issues who are leaving prison.
"There was no dedicated support available for ex-offenders
to address their problematic drinking, avoid relapse and maintain
their recovery," says Cath Templeton, Corporate Responsibility
Manager at Heineken UK.
The service enables up to 35 clients a month to do one-to-one
work with a specialist alcohol worker, who will provide release
prevention, outreach and anger management. In addition,
group work will allow clients to share experiences with and
draw support from their peers.
Heineken is the first alcohol company to achieve CommunityMark,
the UK's only national standard for excellence in community
investment. "The contribution of Heineken shows that the industry
can be a valuable partner in tackling alcohol misuse," says Cath.
Heineken has been working with Addaction since 2005 on a range
of projects including a service supporting people over 50 years of
age with alcohol issues in West Glasgow. Participants are taught to
use the Self Management and Recovery Training (SMART) model,
which is a form of cognitive behaviour therapy. This three-year
project aims to help at least 240 people.
Other projects have included funding research into the feasibility
of establishing a direct access information and advice service
for young adults in Glasgow city centre and funding for a Young
Addaction Policy and Practice Officer.
The case study on page 41 outlines this important
international initiative.
European Forum on Alcohol and Health
Heineken is a founding member of the European
Forum on Alcohol and Health, in which European
organisations debate, compare approaches and
act to tackle alcohol-related harm. In 2010, we
submitted two additional commitments to the
forum. The first was our experience with the Know
the Signs campaign we launched in partnership
with authorities in the Dutch city of Noordwijk.
This actively engaged drinkers in dialogue relating
to consumption patterns and behaviours via the
use of a card game. The second commitment was
our work with Addaction in the UK. You can read
about this in the case study on this page.
Heineken is a founding member of the Beer Selling
Industry Cambodia (BSIC) in Cambodia. The BSIC
was established to improve the welfare and
working conditions of beer promoters via an
industry code of conduct for both promoters and
external parties such as their employers and bar
owners. Constant evaluation of the code is now in
place via a quarterly survey. In 2010, the latest of
these revealed that the working conditions of beer
promoters that belong to the BSIC (approximately
25 per cent of all promoters) have improved over
the past two years, across almost all monitoring
indicators. The biggest improvements were in the
reduced incidence of reported sexual harassment
and the percentage of beer promoters who
admit to drinking with consumers while at work.
However, this percentage (53 per cent; it was
73 per cent in 2009) remains too high and BSIC
members will re-inforce the communication on
the rules with the promoters and their employers
in order to support continued improvement.
In the interests of full disclosure, this quarterly
study is funded by the BSIC members and
conducted by an independent third party agency
- Indochina Research. The results are made
publicly available on the BSIC website. We remain
active in trying to persuade other international
and local beer companies to join the group.
We believe this is the most effective way to
improve the working conditions for the 75 per
cent of beer promoters in Cambodia that do not
belong to the BSIC.
Community
CommunityMark
developed by Business in the Community
Heineken N.V. Sustainability Report 2010
