Drinkaware proposes new funding structure

The business plan will be presented to manufacturers and supermarkets over the next few weeks and aims to guarantee the charity can raise the £5m annual amount needed to fund its educational marketing campaigns as well as ensuring a fairer distribution of contributions.

It is understood Drinkaware will ask producers to contribute according to how much they produce and retailers how much they sell, with the biggest, such as Diageo and Tesco, asked to volunteer more.

The move follows discussions between the Department of Health, supermarkets and drinks makers.

At present, industry body The Portman Group, which is made up of the UK’s nine biggest drinks companies contributes the majority of the charity’s funding.

Chris Sorek, chief executive of Drinkaware, says it is currently going through a Government-led process to review its long-term funding involving retailers, trade bodies and producers and that the “constructive discussions” will conclude in November.

The plan follows the July revelation that Drinkware was in urgent talks with the industry and the Government over its future funding after admitting it faced a £2m shortfall this year.

The Drinkaware logo and a link to its website appears on the majority of marketing campaigns developed by the major UK producers. The charity worked with the industry to develop the recently launched £100m Campaign for Smarter Drinking, which is a coalition of producers and retailers that aims to change young people’s attitudes towards alcohol.

The charity has been upping its marketing efforts this year following its rebranding from Drinkaware Trust in June, launching a summer campaign targeting sporting events and music festivals. It also recently advertised heavily at an international netball tournament to target female drinkers.