A CHARITY is launching its winter campaign to help raise awareness about violence caused by alcohol.

One-Punch UK is launching its winter campaign 'Punched out cold' to raise awareness of alcohol-induced violence over the winter period.

The charity was set up after founder Maxine Thompson-Curls’ son, Kristian was punched and knocked to the floor in a club. This caused a severe brain injury which he lived with for ten months before he passed away.

Now the charity goes around, schools, colleges, hospitals and even prisons to raise awareness of drunken violence on nights out.

Mrs Thompson-Curl said: “Our campaign is in its eighth year, we started back in 2014 with Durham Police to raise awareness of staying safe in the nighttime economy. This is because this time of the year is the busiest for the emergency services.

“We have festive Friday coming up, also known as black-eyed Friday which is the last payday before Christmas for many people, they go out and get drunk.

“We support families of victims because we don’t want anyone to have to go through what we went through. There was very little support for us, there still isn’t much, but we are trying to change that.”

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“We are very worried this year as it will be the first time since 2019 that people will be allowed to have a proper night out, and we fear that they may not be responsible.”

The campaign has the backing of the region’s Police Crime Commissioners who are working closely with the charity to help tackle the issue of alcohol-related violence.

Cleveland PCC Steve Turner said: “The important thing for us is to raise awareness of the consequences of peoples actions, not just for the victim but the families. Acts like this hit more people than you think, so we are going to help promote this campaign as much as we can.”

Susan Taylor Head of Alcohol Policy for the charity Balance said: “All too often we see alcohol-related violence and disorder in our towns and cities as the “normal” but it places a huge burden on the police paramedics and casualty wards.

“Attacks relating to alcohol have the potential to end and destroy lives and we know that alcohol is a harmful product. Unfortunately, we live in an environment in which alcohol has been completely normalised, people can preload on the cheap, strong alcohol and purchase it 24/7 365 days of the year. Alcohol companies tell people “drink responsibly” but these are empty words when it comes to the disorders, and violence that harms people.

“We need to review the role alcohol plays in our society. That means increasing the price of the cheapest, strongest products; reducing the number of places selling alcohol and restricting marketing. It is time to put people before profits.”

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