Byline: BY LIZA WILLIAMS Daily Post Staff
A LOG cabin haven offering massage, mocktails and giant board games has been set up in the city centre to encourage students to reduce their alcohol intake.
Liverpool Primary Care Trust's Chill Out Log Cabin is touring Liverpool centre, stopping off at popular student drinking spots, and is providing revellers with an alternative to alcohol and excessive consumption.
Last night drinkers near Bold Street were pampered in the cabin and enjoyed free head and shoulder massages, hair and beauty treatments, water and non alcoholic cocktails, games and music.
Information such as alcohol wheels which show units by type of drink, and registered taxi numbers, were also available to encourage students to think about their safety while drinking.
During many of the sessions, a welfare officer from the charity Young Addaction will also be on hand to offer advice and support to anyone who is concerned about their alcohol consumption.
Gideon Ben-Tovim, chair of Liverpool PCT, said: 'There are approximately 40,000 students in Liverpool and they enjoy a vibrant nightlife as many drinking establishments provide cheap drinks offers throughout the week.
'This campaign will not only provide the student community with a positive distraction from drinking while they are enjoying a night out, but it will also carry serious health and safety messages about the effects of drinking.'
The cabin is part of a wider alcohol awareness campaign aimed at students, and has been devised following consultation with them.
Tips and advice about drinking safely will be issued to mobiles in the city centre during weekend evenings.
Dr Paula Grey, joint director public health for Liverpool PCT and Liverpool city council, said: 'Liverpool currently has one of the highest rates of alcohol related hospital admissions in England, and we are determined to put in place a programme to reduce such admissions by at least 5% within the next three years.'
Arriva buses have teamed up with the campaign to encourage students to plan their journeys home. Promotional leaflets outlining night bus times and routes will be available at the cabin, and posters displayed on their buses.
Once the campaign is over, Liverpool PCT is planning to donate the cabin and is currently investigating where its permanent home should be.
It will be in operation on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights between 9pm and midnight until December 19.
For more information about the wider campaign - Pssst! be alcohol aware - log on to www.pssst.org.uk lizawilliams@dailypost.co.uk
CAPTION(S):
Maddie Robinson and Kelsey Lee outside the PCT Cabin, to the left, on Bold Street with their non-alcoholic mocktails Pictures: ROB LOVETT/rl121207ddrinking-3; Cllr Gideon Ben-Tovim; Masseuse Kim Mellor gives Mo Rashid a massage at the Cabin Code: rl121207ddrinking-2
