Gurdwaras in the multi-ethnic area of Southall, London, are supporting an important meeting organised to discuss growing anxiety about excessive alcohol consumption in the Sikh community.

The ‘Tacklng the Scourge of the Glassy’ event will be held at The Dominion Centre, 112 The Green, Southall, Middlesex UB2 4BQ, on Saturday January 30 from 2-5pm.

It is being organised by the Drug and Alcohol Action Programme (DAAP) to provide an opportunity for all concerned about alchohol-related harm within the Sikh community to speak up.

Perminder Kaur Dhillon, chief executive of the Drug and Alcohol Action Programme, will be one of three speakers, the others being Dr Gurprit Pannu, consultant psychiatrist, on ‘Myths, Facts and the South Asian communities’, and Avtar Gill, counsellor and activist, on ‘My personal journey of recovery’.

The problem of unsupervised drinking especially at Sikh weddings will be one of the issues highlighted.

Perminder Dhillon says the event will provide information, help and supportive action.

Publicity includes these facts:

Alcohol-related hospital admissions are higher among Indian men

South Asian men are four times more likely to die from alcohol-induced liver ailments

Eighty per cent of these deaths are from the Sikh community

The work carried out by DAAP in the community, on drugs misuse as well as alcohol abuse, is explained in detail on its website at www.daap.org.uk <http://www.daap.org.uk/>

It provides information on recent campaigns aimed at engaging with the young, with black and Asian families, and community organisations and businesses. These included the Southall Community Drugs Education Project, which worked with a local Sikh school and community and religious groups to produce a video for Sikh parents called ‘It couldn’t happen to us’.

For more information contact DAAP on 0208 843 0945 or email admin@daap.org.uk