By Living Room Correspondent "Bernie"
The Independent today carries a story covering the opening of the UK's first no and low alcohol pub, later this month, in London. To be known as "The Clean Vic" it will be open for two days from the 24th of July, and will be located in Holborn, in central London. Every drink served at The Clean Vic will be either alcohol-free, or have an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 0.5% or less. The initiative is being driven by Sainsbury's, the UK supermarket chain, who decided to open The Clean Vic after noticing some interesting trends in buying patterns in their stores.
Sales of no and low alcoholic drinks have been rising steadily at the retailer's stores since 2001, but the last three months has seen a significant spike of 31.8% in sales at their supermarkets. This would seem to align very neatly with an article that was published on the Living Room's "Open Door" blog in March of this year, highlighting the increasing numbers of students who were deciding not to drink alcohol.
There are many reasons why people decide to forego alcohol in their lives, but what has hitherto been unavailable to them are "dry" pubs where they can socialise in the same way as they would a pub serving alcohol, but without any of the collateral damage - arguments and fights, spillage of drinks on their clothes, and obnoxious and antisocial behaviour by those that have imbibed "one too many", to name but a few.
This collateral damage can sometimes have devastating effects on both friends and family of the intoxicated, and those with no connection at all to them. Yesterday, The Guardian carried an article that looked in some depth at the effects of excessive alcohol consumption on third parties - so-called "secondhand drinking". The article carries a number of disturbing examples of the effects of secondhand drinking. One mother talks of her guilt that her drinking-during-pregnancy has left her son with a condition known as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Others talk about the loss of a father, a sister, or "living on tenterhooks" with an alcoholic family member.
Perhaps the most harrowing of the stories reported in the article is that of Helen Witty*, and American housewife and mother. Her 16 year old daughter, also called Helen, was killed in 2000 by a drunk driver whilst skating on a cycle path. She had gone skating to destress before taking part in a school play, but failed to return home on time. Her father went out to look for her and bring her home, but instead was left in the horrific situation of having to identify his daughter's body.
With so much evidence of the tragic effects of secondhand drinking available, it seems almost unbelievable that it has taken until now for the UK's first dry pub to open. It is something that has been talked about here at The Living Room Cardiff, and indeed our former CEO Wynford Ellis Owen developed advanced plans for one here in Cardiff that may yet come to fruition. We have seen first-hand the chaos and tragedy that alcohol misuse causes, and the aftermath it all-too-often leaves behind. In the same way that secondhand cigarette smoke has come to be recognised for the very real danger it presents, we hope that this will be the start of acknowledging more widely, and at governmental level, the dangers that secondhand drinking presents.
We wish Sainsbury's every success with the venture, because the more successful it is, the more likely it is that more will open, and on a permanent basis.
*Helen Witty's story, although tragic in the extreme, is worthy of further reading for the positive and inspirational actions she has taken in the years since her daughter's death. I encourage you to read it by clicking here.