Tea-total party helps beat the blues

The get together was held to mark Dry January and Blue Monday campaigns.

South Tyneside Council’s public health and libraries teams joined forces with local community and voluntary organisations including the Change4Life Health and Wellbeing Champions Network to spread some happiness and support people who have ditched the booze throughout January.

A party was held at the People’s Café based in Age Concern Tyneside South on Beach Road, South Shields, to help cheer those up who may have been feeling low as a result of Blue Monday, the third Monday in January which is traditionally seen as the day when people’s spirits are low as Christmas is over and the bills can be mounting up.

South Tyneside’s Lead Member for Area Management and Community Safety, Coun Moira Smith, who attended the event, said: “The idea of Blue Monday is to encourage events and activities for people to take part in as a way of spreading happiness and support for each other.

“The tea-total party was very well attended and it was encouraging to see a real sense of community spirit and everyone coming together to support each other.”

Alongside the council, Balance, the North East Alcohol office, is promoting the many alcohol-free local activities and attractions that the Borough has to offer including the new state-of-the-art cultural venue The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, based in the Market Place, South Shields.

Coun Tracey Dixon added: “The council is very pleased to support Alcohol Concern’s Dry January campaign and Blue Monday.”

Alcohol is linked to depression and the more alcohol people drink the more depressed they can feel.”

“It’s not too late to take up the Dry January challenge and I would urge anyone to sign up and make the most of feeling great by visiting the numerous attractions that South Tyneside has to offer.

“The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, has lots of exciting things going on and we also have our beautiful coastline, green spaces and parks as well as our leisure centres such as Haven Point and Hebburn Central so there’s plenty to keep people busy when taking part in the challenge.”

Alcohol Concern’s Dry January, now in its fifth year, asks people to start 2017 with a fresh, healthy approach.

As well as all the hidden gems you can discover, anyone accepting the Dry January challenge can look forward to starting the year with better sleeping patterns, better skin, more energy, a smaller waistline and more money.

To sign up to Dry January, find out more about the campaign and to access a wealth of support and advice, visit the Dry January website at www.dryjanuary.org.uk