Why diversity matters
Alcohol Change UK ’ s Opening Doors conference focused on the practical changes that service providers and commissioners can make to better engage with the UK ’ s diverse communities , says Andrew Misell
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f there was one phrase we were hoping not to hear at our Opening Doors conference last month , it was ‘ hard to reach ’. Our premise from the start was that no one is hard to reach – it ’ s just that we don ’ t always reach them .
Of course , that ’ s easy to say – do more , go out there and find people ! Since hard-working professionals were giving their time and their money to attend our conference , we wanted to give them more than a lecture about working even harder . We were aiming to bridge some gaps in knowledge and offer some practical solutions .
Much of the content for the day came from Alcohol Change UK ’ s New Horizons programme – our suite of four commissioned research projects into alcohol issues in diverse communities . Pete Nelson , Sharon Tabberer and Marelize Joubert spoke about the research they ’ ve been undertaking for us with three communities in the north of
England – Polish people , LGBTQ + people , and South Asian people . Sarah Galvani and Aunee Bhogaita – also part of our New Horizons programme – discussed their work to develop better alcohol support for South Asian women , and in particular the role and needs of families and communities . This is an aspect that ’ s sometimes overlooked when issues are examined through the lens of Western individualism .
Fiyaz Mughal from Faith Matters explored how treatment services better engaging with faith groups – alongside faith leaders and teachers learning more about alcohol – could open more doors to support in communities where alcohol use goes against religious and cultural norms . Shannon Murray from the University of South Wales and Gary Meek from Glasgow Council on Alcohol both shared their work with LGBTQ + communities and talked about how visible indicators of understanding and acceptance – posters , flags , asking about pronouns – can make LGBTQ + people more confident in approaching alcohol services . With so many different communities in the spotlight , there were obviously some clear differences in their experiences . But what came through most clearly was the common need for a sense of belonging . For people who ’ ve been pushed to the margins of society , belonging is sometimes found through shared experiences of alcohol – as a means to celebrate and a means to cope . It follows that any attempts to support people from marginalised communities to better manage their drinking have to help them find alternative ways of belonging .
As always , while delegates were keen to hear the latest research findings , it was the stories of lived experience that people responded to most positively . As well as Aunee Bhogaita telling her story of childhood trauma and of a community seeking to keep up appearances , we heard from Yaina Samuels about her experiences of racism , and from Dan Carden MP about how the trauma of hiding his sexuality led to depression and drinking . The Telling Our Own Stories project
As always , while delegates were keen to hear the latest research findings , it was the stories of lived experience that people responded to most positively .
team from Swansea University presented moving digital testimony from Gypsy , Roma and Traveller people about their experiences of alcohol .
There ’ s more to do and more to learn , but we ’ re confident that Opening Doors has provided a valuable boost to efforts to acknowledge and address diverse needs , and to make services more responsive to them .
Slides and video recordings from the Opening Doors conference , and from Alcohol Change UK ’ s other conferences and seminars , are available from the charity ’ s online shop : alcoholchange-uk . myshopify . com /
Andrew Misell is director for Wales at Alcohol Change UK
Sarah Galvani and Aunee Bhogaita discussed their work to develop better alcohol support for South Asian women , and in particular the role and needs of families and communities . This is an aspect that ’ s sometimes overlooked when issues are examined through the lens of Western individualism .
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