At the poster and beer mat campaign launch at Perth College are (from left) Gail Cain (city centre management officer), Lisa Stuart (Safe-Tay founder), David Black (Tayside Fire and Rescue), Kate Rebacz (poster design winner) and Helen Rodger (Creative Institutes).

A CAMPAIGN to highlight the dangers of entering water after drinking alcohol was launched yesterday by a Perth woman whose brother tragically drowned almost three years ago.

Lisa Stuart, of the Safe-Tay charity, spoke following the third “Don’t Drink and Drown” poster and beer mat initiative, held at Perth College. This will see 50,000 beer mats, 200 posters and 2000 parking tickets distributed in Perth and Kinross.

The campaign, launched with Perth College art, design and media students and Perth and Kinross Community Safety Partnership, is aimed at 13 to 27-year-olds.

Lisa’s brother Graham Motion (20) drowned in the Tay in July 2006 and yesterday she stressed the importance of the campaign. “Earlier this week we saw some fantastic weather with people enjoying the river banks to cool down,” she said.

“But people should be aware of the dangers. Cold water causes cramp and hypothermia. Even on a summer’s day the water can be extremely cold.

“Mixed with alcohol it’s a lethal combination, distorting your perception of risk and your own abilities.”
She continued, “We see the importance of teaching people about the dangers of drinking alcohol in and around waterways. Alcohol use is involved in many drownings and our advice would be not to enter the water after drinking.

The winning design was created by Kate Rebacz, of Perth College, and Lisa said she was positive the design would leave a lasting impression on the viewers.

“People who have got into difficulty on the river do so without proper knowledge or awareness of the dangers. Our objective, as a registered organisation, is to prevent such incidents with a hard-hitting campaign.

She noted some general guidelines to keep people safe this summer. “People need to educate themselves: never swim alone, adopt a buddy system, always wear the correct protective clothing, never swim out of your depth, be aware of changing currents. If in any danger call 999 immediately—time is of the essence.”

Safe-Tay have also organised an all-day rock/metal event at Mucky Mulligan’s tomorrow. Tickets (£5) are available at the door.

All money raised will be donated to Safe-Tay to create a new interactive website that teaches children water safety. More information on this and other initiatives can be found at the website www.safe-tay.co.uk

Safe-Tay are also very keen to hear from people who have an interest in their objectives and have ideas for future educational initiatives. Anyone interested should Email Lisa Stuart on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it