The Portman Group's eight member companies will fund £2.1m each for the first three years of the initiative. The remaining money will be found through interested parties in the alcohol industry.
The Drinkaware Trust is a relatively new organisation, having split legally and financially from The Portman Group at the beginning of January. Having recently recruited 10 trustees from the worlds of alcohol and health and social care, its priority is now focused on developing a fundraising strategy to deliver £3m in 2006 rising to £4m in 2007 and £5m in 2009. The trust says it is making good progress has being made on both fronts.
The Drinkaware Trust is only at the very earliest stages of the creative development and so far it is unknown when the campaign will launch or what form it will take.The Portman Group has previously handled the drink aware campaigns funded by the government but now the mantel has been handed to the Drinkaware Trust.
The Portman Group is currently rebranding, following its split from the Drinkaware Trust in April 2006.
The new branding will be revealed at the end of March as will the new code of practice for alcohol advertising.
The most recent alcohol awareness campaign was created by United London for the Home Office and featured shocking scenes of a young man falling from the top of scaffolding to his death while drunk and trying to impress a crowd. The ad was recently cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority after it received complaints that the images were too graphic.
The Drinkaware Trust has recently selected ten trustees to run the decision-making board, finding half its trustees from the alcohol industry and half from the health and social agencies.
Included in the new appointments is Carolyn Bradley, commercial director for Tesco Stres, Tim Clarke, chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers pub chain, Srabani Sen, chief executive of Alcohol concern and Dr Nick Sheron, the head of Clinical Hepatology at Southampton General Hospital.