CAMBERLEY, England, September 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Press Briefing and Photo Call

- 3 October 2007 - 10am - 11.15am

- Phoenix High School, The Curve, Shepherds Bush, London W12 0RQ

BII, the professional body for the licensed retail sector, will formally launch its new ground-breaking Certificate in Alcohol Awareness (CAA) at the Phoenix High School, Hammersmith on 3rd October 2007.

BII has been working on this project for over a year and the pilot of the qualification took place at this London school in the summer.

- There will be the chance to hear from BII as to why it believes this qualification to be essential in the fight against anti social drinking in young people;

- William Atkinson, Headmaster of Phoenix High School, and some of the first pupils to take the qualification, will explain the success of the pilot and why this school felt the qualification was so important and

- Georgina Wald from London brewers, Fuller, Smith and Turner and a key sponsor of the project, will be on hand to answer questions about the pub industry's involvement in the project.

At approx 11am the young people who undertook the pilot will receive their certificate and there will be the opportunity for photographs.

John McNamara, BII Chief Executive, said, "In 2005 22% of 11-15 year olds had drunk alcohol in the previous week and 46% of 15 year olds had drunk alcohol. This qualification is not aimed at teaching young people to drink but to teach them about personal choice and responsibility. Education is key to changing young peoples' attitudes to alcohol and hopefully will take a step towards tackling the binge drinkers of tomorrow."

The recent Government initiative to reduce the number of alcohol based interventions for children and young people has led to new proposals for alcohol education to be an integral part of both the national science and personal, social and health education (PSHE) curricula, in line with DCFS guidance. The BIIAB CAA meets this need, by ensuring that alcohol education can be tailored for different age groups and their learning needs.

For more information on Phoenix High School and headteacher, William Atkinson visit http://www.phoenixhighschool.org

Notes to Editors:

BII is the professional body for the licensed retail sector and has over 17,000 members, and 51 patron and corporate members. Over 1 million BIIAB qualifications have been taken so far. BII's mission is to promote high standards of professionalism throughout the licensed retail sector; to encourage new entrants into the industry, and to help them develop their long-term careers. We provide all our members with the information, skills and qualifications to help them succeed in their business activities.

For further information please contact: Melanie Haynes, BII Corporate Communications Manager, +44-(0)1276-417863, melanie@bii.org