Now that the welcome period is almost behind us, Student Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week is fast approaching! We get a lot of questions asked about what the minimum amount of work is to be involved – there isn’t one. While we’d love to see a range of different activities happening on every campus, just completing one activity or social post is plenty for you to be able to get involved.
We’ve been busy behind the scenes getting digital resources ready for everyone who has pledged to take part, but we wanted to take a moment to share some ideas for what you can do on campus, inspired by all the amazing work that has been done in previous years.
Share That You’ve Pledged
When you’ve completed the Student Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week pledge, you will get access to all the resources we’ve been making, including a graphic you can share before the week to let others know that you are taking part. Sharing this can be a great way to ask students and staff for ideas that they would like to see as part of the week.
Social Activities on Campus
We’ve seen a wide range of social activities organised as part of the Student Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week, focused on highlighting ways students can socialize in no or low alcohol spaces. These have ranged from mocktail making events in accommodation and venues, cinema nights, board games and crafts.
Information Events on Campus
Hosting pop up stalls and activities on campus with the intention of sharing information on drug harm reduction and responsible alcohol consumption can be a great way of engaging students throughout the week. This could also be a great chance to engage with local community alcohol and drug treatment providers, to see if they want to come onto campus too!
Get Student Groups & Societies Involved
Involving your student societies with Student Drug & Alcohol Week is a great way to get the message out to students about what you are doing on campus! You could work with student societies who already have an interest in this area to cohost events – think about academic societies that might talk about drugs and alcohol as part of their course: healthcare, psychology, criminology and sociology for example - or challenge all of your societies to host a social that doesn’t include alcohol as part of the week.
Social Media & Digital Communications
You will get a range of social media comms you can use during this week when you’ve signed up, but there is so much more you can do during the week! Instagram story polls allow for you to gather feedback on issues, host drug and alcohol related quizzes and do some myth busting. Writing blogs, sending emails, any of your normal means of communication to students can be used to share information about how to stay safe.
Take part in the Annual Students, Drugs & Alcohol Survey
Student Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week coincides with the first week our annual survey opens, and you can use any of your activity on campus or online to share the survey. Don’t forget – if you get 100 responses, you’ll receive your local data which will only be shared with you. Sign up to take part and receive resources for the survey here.