The European Night Without Accident UK event took place in Luton on 19 October and saw around 1,000 people become ‘heroes of the night’.
European Night Without Accident is an annual awareness campaign that runs across Europe. The campaign uses peer-to-peer learning in party hotspots to engage with young people and make them aware of the dangers relating to drink and drug driving. The project was initiated in Belgium and is supported by the European Commission.
The event focused on the ‘heroes of the night’ who don’t drink and drive – the designated driver, or the passenger or friend who stops someone from getting behind the wheel after drinking.
There was a chance to ‘take on a hero’ at a reaction-testing game, as well as a super hero themed dress up photo booth.
The day’s events were backed up with blogs, competitions and social media posts that reached thousands more people, spreading the campaign’s message to a wider audience.
Michael McAdam, founder and trustee of Don’t Be That Someone, who organised the event, said: “The event was a lot of fun with many people engaging with the reaction tester game and photo booth. As well as making sure people had fun, there was a serious message behind the event that we relayed to everyone we spoke to.
“Everyone who engaged with us took away ‘five ways to become a hero’ – top tips on how to stop their friends from drink driving. These were provided in a handy pocket size booklet.”
Don’t Be That Someone is keen to roll out the European Night Without Accident model throughout the Christmas period and is urging local authorities to get in touch if they would like to find out more.
Contact Mike McAdam on 07972 463 161 for more information.
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