Drug and alcohol campaign roadshow to hit Glasgow and Edinburgh

A campaign to end the stigma surrounding deaths due to drugs and alcohol will take a roadshow to train stations in Glasgow and Edinburgh in April.

See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland, led by the University of Stirling, received national attention and widespread media coverage following its launch in May 2023.

During the second phase of the campaign, researchers are running a series of roadshows in Scotland to further raise awareness among the public. 

The roadshow events invite members of the public to engage with the campaign through visual and audio materials. It will visit the University of Stirling on March 31, followed by Glasgow’s Central Station on April 3, 10:00am-2:00pm, and Edinburgh’s Waverley Station on April 4, 10:00am-2:00pm.

The first roadshow events took place at Forth Valley College and Stirling’s Central Library in February.

See Beyond features videos of family members and friends who have lost loved ones to alcohol and/or drug use. On a dedicated website, they read out personal letters written to their loved one and share the emotional toll their death has taken on those left behind.

Since its launch, more than 2,000 people have visited the website, where they are asked to sign a pledge committing to be respectful and compassionate towards those affected by substance use. This latest phase of See Beyond is backed by funding from the Scottish Government.

The See Beyond campaign, run in collaboration with Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD), Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and The Salvation Army, has been backed by Miles Briggs, Conservative and Unionist MSP, and Monica Lennon, Labour MSP. Each shared their own letters to their fathers, who both died due to alcohol use. Claire Baker, Labour MSP, recently also lent her support.

The roadshow comes against a backdrop of increasing deaths due to alcohol and drug use in Scotland. According to National Records of Scotland figures, in 2023 there were 1,277 alcohol-specific deaths, the highest since 2008, and 1,172 drug-related deaths, an increase of 12% on 2022.

Dr Hannah Carver, Senior Lecturer in Substance Use and Co-Director of the Salvation Army Centre for Addiction Services and Research at the University of Stirling, said: “We received a tremendous reaction when we launched the See Beyond campaign but now it’s time to strengthen our engagement with public roadshows. The stigma surrounding deaths due to drugs and alcohol is still strong and it is only by challenging the stereotypes people bring to substance use, that the shame can be reduced.

“We are extremely grateful to the Scottish Government for supporting this next important stage of the campaign.”

Experts at the Salvation Army Centre for Addiction Services and Research at the University of Stirling launched the original campaign after being inspired by a similar project in Canada.

Drug-related deaths and alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland 

• In 2023 there were 1,172 drug-related deaths registered in Scotland, an increase of 12% (121 deaths) compared with 2022. 
• Whilst drug-related deaths in Scotland have generally been increasing over the last two decades, this is the second lowest number in the last six years
• In 2023, males were twice as likely to have a drug-related death as females. Most of the increase in the past year was due to male deaths.
• There were 1,277 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland in 2023, an increase of one death from 2022. This is the highest number of alcohol-specific deaths registered in a year since 2008.
• Male deaths continue to account for around two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths.
• Over the last year, male alcohol-specific deaths increased by 25, while female deaths decreased by 24.

Sources: National Records of Scotland Drug-related deaths 2023 and Alcohol-specific deaths 2023