The statistics are alarming. But they are turning around. The latest research reveals a remarkable trend: for the first time in decades, rates of underage alcohol abuse are on the decline. Years of work are paying off. The initiatives are working.

Every year across Australia, teams of thousands of organised volunteers are active day and night in schoolies weeks, university o-week parties, camps, music festivals and sporting events, actively looking out for young people, encouraging them to be responsible and picking up the pieces when they’re not. Habits are changing. Young lives are being saved.

In hundreds of schools across Australia every year, experts are presenting the truth about the dangers of underage alcohol abuse to thousands of teenagers and their parents.

The urgency of this vital work is rising, and more and more volunteers are stepping forward to the front line. Organisations like Red Frogs and Scripture Union are expanding their programs.

More resources are needed to train and resource these and other such important operations.

In May 2011, wine writer Tyson Stelzer approached Red Frogs CEO Andy Gourley and Scripture Union CEO Peter James with an ambitious proposal to raise significant funds to resource this crucial work across Australia. Three-and-a-half years of complex legal and financial work later, Teen Rescue Foundation Limited is officially ready to resource the work of combating teen alcohol abuse in Australia.

The mandate of Teen Rescue Foundation Limited is principally to provide financial support for Australian organisations which provide front-line initiative in situations in which teens consume alcohol, with an objective to actively discourage and reduce harmful alcohol use and its consequences among teens. Secondly, it sets out to financially support Australian organisations in providing education, support and services for teens and their families relating to the dangers of teen alcohol consumption. To achieve these goals, Teen Rescue Foundation Limited has established a Public Ancillary Fund as a philanthropic Trust dedicated exclusively to resourcing this work.

The Foundation also takes a responsibility to raise the profile of this work by communicating the initiatives that it supports.

Teen Rescue Foundation needs your help. Please join our fight to make a real difference for young Australians by signing up as a member. It’s free and it gives us the chance to keep you informed on the work we’re doing and ways you can help. Please spread the word and encourage others to join us, too.

Please also consider ways in which you are able to support us financially, through your own fundraising initiatives and donations. All donations over $2 are fully tax deductible. Your money will get through to where it counts. Our costs are negligible and we have no paid staff and pay no commissions to fundraising organisations. We have already saved more than $13,000 in legal set up costs thanks to volunteer assistance.

We are greatly encouraged by the turnaround in teen alcohol abuse in Australia in recent years. We are committed to making a very real difference for the future of young Australians. We need your help.