{"id":259,"date":"2026-03-26T15:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/?p=259"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:29:20","slug":"reimagining-alcohol-free-night-time-economy-social-activities-in-cathays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/reimagining-alcohol-free-night-time-economy-social-activities-in-cathays\/","title":{"rendered":"Reimagining Alcohol Free, Night-Time Economy Social Activities in Cathays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Across the UK, alcohol remains central to the social currency of the night\u2011time economy. Despite some indicators of shifts in attitudes towards alcohol in younger demographics, evening-based activities for young people \u2013 particularly students \u2013 still centre alcohol. As part of our Cathays Futures initiative<\/a>, SPARK has partnered with young people, Cardiff Council, local policing teams, community organisations, small businesses and healthcare professionals to explore what meaningful alternatives could look like.<\/p>\n

This work foregrounded relational, design\u2011led engagement. Design Labs (i.e., group co-creation workshops), dispersed dialogue activities (i.e.,1:1 engagements) and existing evidence (i.e., surveys, academic research etc.) brought together stakeholders and their ideas, who may not otherwise interact and collaborate. This collaborative approach recognised that meaningful solutions emerge from diverse forms of expertise, including academic knowledge, lived experience, and tacit community and professional insight. It also highlighted that a one\u2011size\u2011fits\u2011all model of engagement does not work when working across different demographics and expertise. Different groups feel comfortable in different spaces, at different times, and through different forms of interaction. To meaningfully understand and respond to the complexity of community priorities, we must create multiple, accessible pathways for participation.<\/p>\n

This process enabled participants to explore young people\u2019s appetite for alcohol\u2011free options, the social norms that shape behaviour, and the economic and practical barriers faced by venues. One critical insight was the importance of exposure<\/em>: what is visible becomes possible. When alcohol\u2011based venues and activities dominate the landscape, they shape expectations and behaviour. By contrast, offering culturally relevant, fun, well\u2011designed alternatives such as late\u2011night caf\u00e9s, creative workshops, themed events, sports or gaming nights, can shift norms and reduce harm. Throughout the work, young people repeatedly emphasised that the \u201cvibe\u201d mattered as much as the activity. This signalled an opportunity: to normalise alcohol-free events that match the energy and appeal of traditional nightlife.<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/figure>\n

To test these ideas in practice, SPARK designed a Micro Grants Programme, funded by the Community Alcohol Partnership. This programme offered \u00a3500\u2013\u00a31000 to local groups and businesses. A deliberately light\u2011touch funding model (i.e., simple and short application and evaluation forms) enabled small organisations – those often excluded by bureaucratic processes – to experiment. Crucially, the programme treated practice as a form of inquiry and was open to failure. We were genuinely <\/em>interested in what didn\u2019t work, as much as what did.<\/p>\n

Five projects were funded in Cathays: board\u2011game and painting nights in an independent coffee shop; craft workshops co\u2011designed with young people; youth evenings using play and gaming; intergenerational Radical Rest Parties; and alternative gig nights that transformed community spaces into immersive, alcohol\u2011free venues.<\/p>\n

“This was so much fun and better than being down the pub.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026refreshing to be at a student night not centred around alcohol.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Young people reported increased confidence, creative skill\u2011building, and a stronger sense of belonging. Local businesses discovered viable new models: the coffee shop, for example, now plans monthly alcohol\u2011free evenings. The alternative gig events attracted large crowds – demonstrating that alcohol is not required to draw young people into vibrant night\u2011time spaces. In total, 385 young people aged 18\u201325 participated directly in the five pilot activities, with many more outside this age-range benefiting from the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am new to Cardiff and this is my first event… It was great to be in a beautiful, nurturing space with such a diverse group.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The standout lesson from this work is that co-production, grounded in relational working and iterative, practice-based experimentation, can generate viable, culturally relevant solutions to social challenges. Our next challenge is how we build on, support and mainstream both this way of working and the activities that emerged from it in a context of limited resource and capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across the UK, alcohol remains central to the social currency of the night\u2011time economy. Despite some indicators of shifts in attitudes towards alcohol in younger demographics, evening-based activities for young […]","protected":false},"author":7124,"featured_media":261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":259,"cy":265},"meta_box":[],"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}