HOST A BIG BREAKFASD
National FASD Day - 9th September 2012
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| Helpline 01608 811599 |
The FASD Trust (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) is organising a BIG BREAKFASD on 9th September. The Trust is urging people to abstain from alcohol for 9 days and organise a BIG BREAKFASD to fundraise and heighten general awareness of the condition. FADS Day is on the ninth day of the ninth month every year. The date signifies the nine months of pregnancy.
The
purpose of FASD Day is to promote awareness of the risks of consuming alcohol
during pregnancy, and to provide support and encouragement both for women
during an alcohol-free pregnancy, and for the families and carers looking after
children and adults affected by FASD.
Julia Brown, from The FASD Trust says, “Mums to be get mixed messages in pregnancy and social changes have led to an increase in female drinking, especially binge drinking and for younger women.”
Julia Brown, from The FASD Trust says, “Mums to be get mixed messages in pregnancy and social changes have led to an increase in female drinking, especially binge drinking and for younger women.”
“People
are now well aware that smoking is bad for the unborn baby, but medically
alcohol is more dangerous than cigarettes.
The most dangerous time is the first and last three months of pregnancy.
The first three is when the foetus is forming physically; the last three is
when the brain can suffer significant damage.”
“The
message should be that there is No
Safe Time and no Safe Limit for Drinking if you get pregnant.”
“FASD
Day, our alcohol abstinence FASD and BreakFASD are aimed at drawing attention
to these facts, and fundraising so that we can raise awareness of the problem.”
FASD is
a series of wide ranging and preventable birth defects caused entirely by a woman
drinking alcohol at any time during her pregnancy, often even before she knows
that she is pregnant. Problems include both physical difficulties
and memory, learning and attention disorders (see below for more details.)
·
1% of the
general population suffer from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
·
A
significant percentage of children being released for adoption suffer from FASD
– with figures as high as 90% in some areas of the UK
·
Only an
estimated 18-25% of those with FAS are able to live independently as adults.
Suggestions for drawing people's attention to FASD
1. Abstain from
alcohol for a 9-day FASD
Abstain from alcohol for the first nine days of September and donate
the money that would normally be spent on alcohol to The FASD Trust.
Register
your interest in the 9-day FASD from alcohol by emailing info@fasdtrust.co.uk for
a joining pack. Each day during September, we will be e-mailing you a note of
encouragement.
We would
like your photos, tweets, Facebook comments, etc in return.
On 9th September at 9.09am (or even 9.09pm) invite all your friends round for a delicious Big BreakFASD for a donation.
·
Continental selection of croissants, Danish
pastries, toast and preserves, coffee/tea orange juice
·
Bagels, scrambled egg and smoked salmon
·
Eggs Benedict
·
Kippers or Haddock
·
A pile of pancakes with maple syrup
·
Traditional bacon, egg, sausage
To register
your interest in holding a BreakFASD, send an e-mail to Patrick at info@fasdtrust.co.uk for
a poster, invitations to send to your friends, suggestions on how to make your
event successful and a link to a video to show your friends explaining about
FASD and the work of The FASD Trust.
3. Church Involvement
As 9th September falls on a Sunday, we are inviting churches to take 9 minutes of their service to stop and pray for all those affected by FASD and the work of The FASD Trust.
Register your interest in praying for us and more details of how your church can be involved in this project, including daily prayer points for the 9 days, Powerpoint slides for your church notices, and how to organise a church BreakFASD, please e-mail Julia at prayer@fasdtrust.co.uk.
To find
out more about plans to mark FASD Day in 2012 and to see how you can take part
in the planned activities or to make a donation, please see www.fasdtrust.co.uk
Make a donation
Donations
can be made through the Charity Choice web site: http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/the-fasd-trust-15175
****************
More about FASD
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term for
several diagnoses that are all related to prenatal exposure to alcohol (i.e.
while a baby is still in the womb).
FASD is a series of preventable birth defects caused entirely by a woman drinking alcohol at any time during her pregnancy, often even before she knows that she is pregnant.
·
1% of the
general population suffer from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
·
A
significant percentage of children being released for adoption suffer from FASD
– with figures as high as 90% in some areas of the UK
·
Only an
estimated 18-25% of those with FAS are able to live independently as adults.
The Brain
Intellectual Disability; lowered IQ
Memory Disorders
Learning
Disorders
Attention
Disorders
Sensory
Disorders
Speech
and Language Disorders
Mood Disorders
Behavioural
Disorders
Autistic-like
Behaviours
Sleep
Disorders
The Body
Visual and Eye Defects
Hearing
and Ear Defects
Mouth,
Teeth and Facial Defects
Weak Immune
System
Epilepsy
Liver
Damage
Kidney
Defects
Heart
Defects
Cerebral
Palsy, Muscular Defects
Height
and Weight Deficiencies
Hormonal
Disorders
Skeletal
Defects
Genital
Defects
Secondary Disabilities
Loneliness
School
Expulsions
Addictions
Chronic
Unemployment
Promiscuity
Unplanned
Pregnancies
Poverty
Criminality
Prison
Homelessness
Depression
and Suicide
About the FASD Trust
The FASD
Trust provides support, training and information to those affected by FASD (Foetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorders), their parents/carers and the professionals, such
as teachers, doctors, social workers and others seeking to assist them.
In addition,
The FASD Trust seeks to raise awareness of FASD, in order to improve the
understanding of those affected and the support offered to them by the wider community
and to seek to lower the incidence rate of FASD in the UK, as people begin to
understand the potential risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
The FASD
Trust was set up in 2007 by Simon & Julia Brown who have an adopted daughter
affected by FASD. After their daughter was diagnosed, Simon & Julia were
surprised by the lack of support and information available and The FASD Trust
was set up in response to the "gap" they encountered in support
services and the lack of knowledge about this condition.
The FASD
Trust reaches out to all sectors of society, to ensure the vulnerable individuals
with FASD are supported and protected. They now run support groups for families
across the UK, have a Medical & Healthcare Professionals Forum, have guides
available for teachers, and are developing a number of other resources,
especially for social workers, foster carers and adopters, as many of the most
severely affected children are found in the care system.
The FASD
Trust also works with young teenage parents, grandparents, birth parents and
seeks to be compassionate in its response to anyone affected by this lifelong,
but not life-limiting condition.
To register
your interest in holding a BreakFASD, send an e-mail to Patrick at info@fasdtrust.co.uk and
we will send you a poster, invites to send to your friends, suggestions on how
to make your event successful and we will send you nearer the time a link to a
video to show your friends explaining about FASD and the work of The FASD Trust.
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