May 2025 project update.

SPACES May 2025 Newsletter 

Storytelling Promoting Alcohol Change, Empowerment & Sharing (SPACES): supporting mid-life women who would like to reduce their alcohol consumption.

Welcome to the second issue of the SPACES newsletter! 

Every few months we will be sharing updates about progress with this project, and new information about mid-life drinking. 

What have we done so far?

Towards the end of 2024, we asked mid-life women for their views on what influences their drinking and about the tools and techniques that might help people cut back on their alcohol consumption.  This year we have been listening to a wide range of incredible and inspirational accounts from mid-life women with experience of reducing or stopping alcohol consumption.  We are really grateful to everyone who has shared their story, and to our wonderful Public Advisory Group, for helping us develop over 20 stories!

Future opportunities to get involved

Take part in our next study

Currently we are busy preparing a prototype resource for mid-life women through which they can access a range of stories, and signposting to other support.  Over the summer we will be running more sessions with mid-life women who will be invited to test and evaluate the prototype resource.  To register your interest, email spacesproject@brookes.ac.uk.

Join our free online seminars

Our second seminar is on ‘Mid-life Women: Alcohol-free and low alcohol Views and Experiences’ and will be held on Tuesday 22 July 2025 (10-11am).  This event is open to anyone interested in learning more about mid-life women’s views on alcohol-free and low alcohol products.  Register for this free online event here.  

You may also like to save this September date – the third SPACES webinar will be held on Thursday, 25 September (11am to 12 noon).  Further details to follow.

New Research:  Rethinking How We Talk About Alcohol and Breast Cancer.

A new study led by our team, just accepted in Health Promotion International, is rethinking how we communicate the link between alcohol and breast cancer with UK women. Although alcohol is a well-established risk factor, public awareness remains low—limiting both harm prevention and support for effective alcohol policy.

This matters. People who are aware of the alcohol–cancer link are more likely to support evidence-based policies—like pricing and availability restrictions—that are proven to reduce harm but often lack public backing. Raising awareness could help shift attitudes, challenge the dominant narrative of individual responsibility, and build momentum for systemic change.

But messaging must be done carefully. Mid-life women—who are disproportionately affected by breast cancer and increasingly drinking at risky levels—face particular stigma. Messaging that feels blaming or fear-based can backfire. That’s why it’s essential to design public health communication that is clear, credible, and grounded in the lived experiences of the people it aims to reach.

Drawing on a Delphi study with over 260 women aged 40–65, our research identifies key barriers to effective messaging—ranging from social norms and mistrust to psychological defences and unintended consequences. It also offers practical strategies for overcoming them, including the use of narrative-based approaches with relatable characters, careful presentation of statistics, and positive framing.  This study was funded by Prevent Breast Cancer.

Why do we need to be concerned about alcohol consumption?

A new study commissioned by Alcohol Change UK, looking at a range of drinking habits, suggests that alcohol-related health harms are widespread. Even among those drinking within the current guidance (<14 units per week) there are links with cancer and cardiovascular disease, poor-quality sleep, and reduced daily functioning. 

Meanwhile, UK government statistics show that deaths from alcohol reached record levels (10,472) in 2023, with an increase of 38.4% since 2019.  Just under two thirds of these (64%) occurred in mid-life i.e. those aged between 40 and 64 years.

Who we are

The SPACES project team is a collaboration between researchers at Oxford Brookes University and Liverpool John Moores University.  Each SPACES newsletter will be profiling one of the researchers on the team.  In this issue, we’re introducing Professor Eila Watson. 

“My research is focussed on Supportive Cancer Care and I have been working in this area for over 20 years now, seeking to understand the issues that are important to those impacted by cancer and develop and trial ‘interventions’ to meet unmet needs. At the moment we are running a UK wide trial of a support package for women prescribed hormone therapy following breast cancer. Many women are recommended to take hormone therapy for up to 10 years following diagnosis to reduce the chances of the cancer coming back, and we are really hoping our support package will help them to keep taking it and to cope with any side effects or other issues along the way.

I’m really excited to be part of the SPACES team and to be joining forces with alcohol researchers for this study. There is a growing evidence base regarding the role of alcohol in cancer, however many women are not aware of this. I think it’s so important we are able to share information about the risks of alcohol in an informative and non-judgemental way”.

Who are we working with?

The SPACES project is funded by The Medical Research Council who work to improve the health

of people in the UK.  We’re also extremely fortunate to be working in partnership with Alcohol Change UK, Club Soda, Soberistas, the Institute of Alcohol Studies, and other organisations.

In the next issue

The next newsletter will be produced in the autumn, and will include updates on testing and evaluating the prototype resource, and our plans for the rest of 2025.  If you have any content you would like to suggest for the next issue, please email spacesproject@brookes.ac.uk by Friday 14th August 2025.