The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and The Students' Union at UWE are the first University partnership to receive a national Drug and Alcohol Impact Accreditation.

Drug and Alcohol Impact was launched by the National Union of Students and SOS-UK in 2020 in order to embed social norms of responsible drinking on University campuses, and refocus the conversation on drugs towards reducing harm, and building healthier, safer, more productive student communities.

We’re pleased to announce that after joining the pilot cohort of the programme in November 2020, the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and The Students’ Union at UWE have achieved the SOS-UK’s Drug and Alcohol Impact Accreditation.

Highlights of their work:

• The partnership has demonstrated numerous approaches to educating students around substance use, this includes the ‘Let’s Talk About Drugs’  video campaign watched by over 3200 students, speaking to over 650 students during welcome period and the introduction of a new Community module during student induction which was viewed by 4,800 students. 

• The provision of a Senior Drugs and Alcohol Practitioner in the UWE Bristol Wellbeing team, creating in-house support for those struggling with drugs and alcohol. This service has offered students the opportunity to have both one-off harm reduction appointments as well as ongoing structured treatment. 42% of the students accessing this support advised they would not have accessed drug and alcohol support externally.
• The partnership demonstrated their commitment to responsible alcohol consumption through their participation in the Drink Rethink programme. Working with SOS-UK, they trained 11 students to complete a questionnaire with their peers identifying their drinking levels and then gave information according to their risk level. In a follow up survey 3 weeks later 50% of respondents who consumed alcohol said that it made them think about their drinking and 38% attributed reducing their alcohol consumption due to Drink Rethink.

SOS-UK trained UWE Bristol student volunteers to audit their institution. They commented on the excellent work that the partnership has been doing and the impacts that such work will have.

One student auditor said:“I believe the work is crucial to the welfare of students and young people in Bristol, and will have impacts on physical, psychological, and institutional wellbeing.”

Another student auditor said: “I enjoyed seeing how passionate members of staff were about the Drug and Alcohol impact scheme.”

“The Students’ Union at UWE are thrilled to have received this new accreditation mark, recognising our harm reduction approach for drugs including alcohol. The partnership has developed our communications and interventions in this space and developed collectively our inclusive programme of activity, so that students have safe, healthy, and fun experiences whilst at UWE Bristol.” - The Students’ Union President, Rania Regaieg

For more information, please visit:

• SOS-UK Programme: https://www.drugandalcoholimpact.uk/
• The Students’ Union at UWE: https://www.thestudentsunion.co.uk/community/late-night-do-it-right/
• UWE Bristol: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/life/health-and-wellbeing/stay-fit-and-healthy/alcohol-and-drugs