‘Dry up for New Year’ festive boozers told

Published on 09/11/2012 01:56

A MAJOR health charity is urging British drinkers to stop drinking for the whole of January to avoid more than 4.5 million working days being lost to hangovers.

Alcohol Concern has issued its Dry January challenge to drinkers, on the back of statistics estimating that around 200,000 people go to work with a hangover every day, costing the economy around £6.4 billion every year.

The campaign follows the charity’s Alcohol Harm Map which found that the biggest drain on NHS resources were baby boomers rather than young binge drinkers.

The charity hopes those taking part will use it “as an opportunity to ditch the hangover, reduce their waistline, save some pennies and take time to think about whether their drinking is really working for them”.

Alcohol Concern spokeswoman Emily Robinson said: “Many of us think the way we drink isn’t a problem.

“We’re challenging people to take part in Dry January and try giving up booze for 31 days, and if it sounds like a big ask you’re exactly the person we want to join us and have a go.

“We’re not being killjoys or telling people to never drink again. We just think this provides the perfect opportunity for all of us to take a breather and get thinking about our drinking.”