A review of national laws, regulations and attitudes for managing alcohol-related harms to young people in sports settings was carried out by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.

The report provides some interesting insights, such as: 

1. The prevention of alcohol-related harm to youth is an important matter within sport settings. 
2. Preventing alcohol related harm to youth should be a priority of national sporting bodies.
3. The 4 most influential target audiences in sports settings for initiatives to be activated to prevent alcohol harms to youth are players, coaches/training staff, spectators/fans and bar staff.
4. The sporting setting itself has added value to promote healthy lifestyles, including activities to prevent alcohol-related harms to the most vulnerable population target: young people. 
5. Despite the presence of laws and regulations to protect young people from alcohol harms, there is  an overall low level of knowledge and enforcement, at national level and in sports settings. 
6. There is the need of cooperation across organisations to implement alcohol policies for youth. 
7. With reference to sports settings, more efforts and resources are needed to overcome the main obstacles for effective implementation of alcohol policy, that are the lack of:  

• regulations on alcohol advertising and sponsorship linked to youth and sports in the sporting bodies
• bar staff training on responsible serving of alcohol
• alcohol consumption policies for young players within sport
• knowledge on alcohol related-harms and on laws and regulations on alcohol and young people including sports professionals
• monitoring controls of sporting bodies by the government. 

The International Blue Cross has made it its goal to close these gaps. IBC is investing heavily in working with governments around the world to improve alcohol regulation. 

With your support you can close the gaps discovered by FYFA. Thank you for your donation!

Links:

• FYFA Project

At the Blue Cross Brazil numerous very exciting activities took place in September among the Kids support groups.

We would like to share some of them with you:  

• On 2 September 2019, the 169th parade took place celebrating the foundation of the city of Blumenau. The Blue Cross participated and walked through the city with banners. The children and adults had a lot of fun. (Photo 1)

• In the week from 9th to 15th September the topic "Emotions" was discussed in the kids support groups. The children watched a film together and then talked about their feelings. This serves as an exercise for children to learn to perceive and share their emotions. (Photo 2)

• The children took part in a theme day at the end of September. The children were made aware of the danger of cigarettes in a playful way. A "mysterious" box served as entertainment. (Photo 3)

Thank you very much for your support in making such activities possible for children in Brazil! 

"Bate papo" means "chat" in Brazilian. The project Chat belongs to the daily projects of Blue Cross in Brazil. The project consists of a variety of activities, which focus not only on playing together but also on talking to the children. Conversation and affection help the children to deal with their situation of addicted parents and the related difficulties. 

The project often takes place on the football pitch. Before or after the training and football match, the leaders sit in a circle with the kids and talk about topics that concern them. Other activities include group games, handicrafts, acrobatics or making music together. The kids are listened to during the snack and between the game units and are assured that they are supported and beloved.  

The leaders of the Kids Support Groups also meet regularly to share their experiences and to find new ways together how their work can touch children's hearts in the long run.  

Help with your donations that children have someone to "chat" with about the situation at home. Thank you very much!

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The Blue Cross Kids support groups are:
Weekly meetings in drug-free, socio-interactive, playful spaces, monitoring, support and prevention, based on the vision of an integral human being. Values, aimed at children from contexts of use and abuse of psychoactive substances and the fragility and vulnerability of families in society.