Alcohol as a raffle prize from a health care setting. Yay or nay?

You're right about bottles of wine ( which is the usual drink) bringing on more ticket sales, we've found that too.

People love to buy the tickets, then put the stubs inside the jars that are for the item on the table that they hope to win.
There are typically more tickets in the jars for the wine & cheese basket than any other item.
The wine really boosts ticket sales.

I don’t personally think it’s appropriate, but I wouldn’t be too annoyed about it as long as there was an alternative. So if you win the alcohol or a hamper containing alcohol, you can swap it for something else.

I’m a recovering alcoholic. I am not bothered if alcohol is around. I wouldn’t be happy with someone handing me a bottle of it though. And some people with drinking problems have trust issues with family, so turning up home with a bottle of wine could cause a meltdown in their support systems because people will just assume they were intending to drink it. But it can also be really hard to politely turn down gifts of alcohol. No one wants to come across as a miserable old git or ungrateful or to out themselves as someone with an issue.

It would be nice to have AF alternatives and it would just be all around easier for people if they didn’t have to make a big scene about not wanting a gift of booze, completely apart from the ideological issues around it. The alcohol industry certainly does work hard to keep their products in these sorts of environments though, and we know that from their marketing efforts with cancer research, health and wellbeing events, etc.

Yes. A lot of people enjoy a drink, but are not addicted - myself included. I do understand that it is harmful to overindulge, as I’m a well informed adult, but occasional drinking is not generally a problem for most.

I work in a GP surgery. We are given wine or chocolate as a Christmas thank you. Neither are healthy but they are very well appreciated.

There are ways to deal with having alcohol as a prize. You can offer people options / allow them to pick their prize.

You could use different coloured raffle tickets, blue include alcohol, pink no alcohol.

You can have two raffles with one being just for alcohol.

I was surprised my local community shop accept alcohol as raffle prizes. They don't sell it and it never goes in food bank parcels but as a prize is fine.

I think the kind of alcohol given as prizes is different. People with an alcohol problem usually drink cheap alcohol (I know not always) but prizes are usually a bottle of wine / whisky / champagne.

I worked at a private hospital for a couple of years, patients could order from the bar as long as their doctor didn't object.

When my mum was in the hospice towards the end of her life she was allowed alcohol.

We have alcohol in our work raffle (I work in a hospital). We would never sell any tickets otherwise. But it’s not only patients buying tickets. I’m not sure I’m overly comfortable with it but it is what it is.

Are there other food/drink prices in the raffle? 'healthy' chocolate or so? ;-)

The trust I work for has a policy that says we can’t do this. No alcohol or home baking for the public.

The organization is trying to raise money for a good and worthy cause.

I would see no problem if they had a bottle of wine in a nice gift basket with cheese and crackers jams spreads, whatever.

This would appeal to a lot of people who either would want it for themselves or to use it for a gift for someone who would enjoy it.

Remember: the bottom line is they want to raise funds and must appeal to as many people who would purchase a raffle ticket as possible.

If there are many service users are actively known to have substance misuse issues/in recovery from it, then if they are buying raffle tickets I'd say it's not appropriate.
There could also be people who don't drink for religious or taste reasons.
A voucher for a supermarket is good, so if someone did want alcohol then it's up to them if they use it for that. But they could use it for gifts or food or essentials as well.

Presumably the prizes were donated. You can’t pick and choose what is donated. Many people will be pleased to win booze either for their own use or for hosting or giving as presents. Is it the type of raffle where you choose your prize?

Alcohol is way, way more harmful than you're suggesting. Do you really believe there are more people addicted to cigarettes than alcohol?

Interesting one. A carton of cigs would never be a raffle prize, would it!!

Alcohol and cigarettes aren't really the same, though - alcohol is nowhere near as addictive or as harmful to health as cigarettes, really. Most people who drink alcohol regularly aren't addicted to it. But all habitual smokers are addicted to cigarettes. It's also possible to drink in moderation with little to no risk to one's health, whereas smoking in moderation is still unequivocally harmful.

Junk food is also not comparable to cigarettes. Some people find it hard not to eat sweets and crisps and takeaways, but that doesn't actually mean they're physically addictive and they're still food that, in moderation, is harmless. If someone's been sitting up all night with a sick relative with no chance to eat a meal, a cup of coffee and a Twix are more likely to be beneficial than harmful.

Personally, I think that if you think alcohol shouldn't be a raffle prize or that chocolates and crisps shouldn't be sold in hospital vending machines, then the solution to that is not to buy a raffle ticket and not to use the vending machines, rather than to suggest they shouldn't be allowed.

Maybe they asked for donations as raffle prizes and they are what people donated. Don't enter the raffle if you don't want to win that prize.

Alcohol does actually have some restrictions in terms of being raffles. It may be sticky if it's a purely private org eg some care homes.

We wouldn't in our health care place. It would either be patients winning it and where I work alcohol is discouraged. Or it would be staff where we have a high portion of Muslims

I would as a staff only, or if it was somewhere like a care home where it was more likely to be the public/friends/family entering

god, it's a bloody raffle! NHS should rather look at the crap if feeds people in hospital (or the lack of healthcare overall). But a bottle of plonk as a raffle price??? Christ, some people just love to be offended..

I don't see a problem with it, some people have a problem with alcohol just as some people have issues with other substances. Some people can't have chocolate, some people are allergic to things like perfume. If you rule out anything that could be inappropriate to somebody you will struggle to find raffle prizes that are acceptable.

A voucher for a massage? Could be triggering, some people don't like to be touched. Travel vouchers? Might upset someone because they feel they can't travel because of caring commitments.

One person's meat is another person's poison.

Alcohol is very different to chocolate, cakes and sweets.

What about those with gambling issues too?!
If it was the local alcohol and drug team running the raffle - well, not really appropriate, otherwise, no problem IMHO.

By that logic you shouldn’t have anything ‘unhealthy’. That means you can’t have chocolate, cakes, or sweets either - and people can have allergies to soap or beauty products so you can’t have those - and some people have a fear of heights so you shouldn’t have experiences like a ride in a hot air balloon either.

Surely if you don’t want the prize you’ve won you just pass on it and let someone else win it. Someone might not want the prize themselves but could pass it on to someone who would appreciate it.

If hospitals and healthcare settings want to be seen as bastions of healthy living, they should do something about the execrable pap served as food to patients. A bottle of plonk at a Christmas raffle is not the problem.

Interesting one. A carton of cigs would never be a raffle prize, would it!!

Drink doesn’t suit me but luckily it wouldn’t impact me negatively if I won a bottle in a raffle, I’d pass it on to someone. I realise it wouldn’t be the same for everyone.

Despite my reservations I can see why it’s still a popular raffle prize - cheap enough, easy to get, and will still appeal to a lot of people. I know plenty at work who would happily throw in a few €’s for the chance to get a nice whiskey or brandy.

No.