Andy Blair, Youth Harm Reduction Officer with Kent Trading Standards, has been awarded the national Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAP) Spotlight Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership and commitment to protecting young people and revitalising CAP activity across Kent.

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CAPs are community-led partnerships which bring together local police, councils, schools, retailers, and community groups. Their primary goal is to reduce underage alcohol consumption and the resulting harms, improving health and well-being, and enhancing the wider community.

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Over the past year, CAP activities led by Andy have reached around 1,200 pupils through school sessions focused on alcohol risks, decision-making and peer influence. He has also delivered harm reduction talks to Scout groups, supported peer mentoring programmes in schools and attended numerous community events, including Freshers’ Fairs, summer engagement events and sports-based diversionary activities such as pickleball tournaments.

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Andy has also introduced innovative tools to strengthen prevention work. He has developed an engaging educational “vape board” to help young people and communities understand regulations and risks around vaping and is now developing a similar tool focused on alcohol awareness. He has also created a QR code reporting system enabling members of the public and partners to quickly and anonymously report suspected underage sales of alcohol, tobacco, vapes or knives, improving intelligence gathering and speeding up enforcement responses.

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Andy commented: “I am very grateful for this award and very humbled. The support and contribution from partner agencies has enabled us to do some amazing work over the last year. The support I have received from Matt Knight and CAP has been superb, and combine that with the partner agencies locally, makes the challenge of reducing the supply of alcohol to young people easier. The sharing of ideas, not only with partner agencies locally, but with CAP as a community is just one of the ways we can tackle these issues. This helped me develop my ideas to strengthen CAPs locally. Thank you.”

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Commenting on the award, CAP Director Kate Winstanley said: “Andy has shown outstanding commitment to protecting young people and revitalising CAP partnerships across Kent. By combining strong enforcement work with creative engagement and partnership building, he has delivered real improvements in compliance, education and community safety. His energy, innovation and dedication make him a truly deserving recipient of this year’s Spotlight Award.”

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Andy received his award at an awards ceremony held at the House of Commons on 2 March 2026.

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