Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) Aberdeen Business School played host to DRiNKLiNK’s award ceremony aimed at promoting responsible drinking.
The awards ceremony, which took place on 2 May 2013, displayed the works of a photography competition run by the charity and supported by RGU and the Aberdeen Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. Keen photographers were asked to submit photo’s which they felt captured what alcohol means to them and the impact they believe it has on society.
As part of the event the charity linked with Aberdeen cocktail bar Orchid who came up with a special non-alcoholic mocktail which guests enjoyed on the night. The successful cocktail bar has always supported responsible drinking in the City.
Speaking of Orchid’s involvement in the event, Manager, Martin Farmer, said:
“As a bar we like to promote the idea of sociable yet responsible drinking, this is why with every menu we work on we put in just as much time and effort in to creating what we call a mocktail as we would into your regular cocktail.
‘We find that when a member of a group is not drinking they sometimes feel left out, with a mocktail they feel more comfortable and can relax when out with a group who are all drinking and still be the life and soul of the party. We are glad to be involved in an event like this which encourages people to drink responsibly and that it is ok to go on a night out and not drink alcohol. It is important for people to know that there are alternatives out there.”
The event welcomed guests from various support networks across Aberdeen City and Shire as well as leading professionals working in the energy sector. Guests were given the opportunity to sample a DRiNKLiNK Colada, indulge in some tasty nibbles and speak to like minded professionals about the true impact of alcohol on society and in particular, the workplace.
Stacey Summers, Chairperson of DRiNKLiNK, said:
“Throughout April DRiNKLiNK runs ‘No Alcohol April’ which encourages participants to give up alcohol for the month. During and after the month long event we ask people to feedback on the challenges they found. Last year many participants said that they felt more comfortable sitting in a bar drinking non alcoholic alternatives rather than a soft drink, however quite often these were not available in places. This year we wanted to tackle this problem and we are very glad to have the support of Orchid in doing so. They have a fantastic menu of mocktails available which taste just as delicious as the alcoholic alternative.
“People choose to stop drinking or cut down on their drinking for many reasons such as part of a training programme, pregnancy or for health reasons and it is encouraging that bars like Orchid offer an alternative for people.
“The response that we had to the photography competition was encouraging and I was happy to see so many people turn up to the event, interested in finding out a bit more about DRiNKLiNK and the support that we offer.”
