James Cracknell is helping you to 'Get Home Safe' this Christmas

"From my experiences I know the importance of making a plan and getting home safe so I was really excited when I was asked to lead the Stella Artois campaign. It doesn't matter if you are heading to the South Pole or East Finchley this Christmas everyone should make a plan to get home safe."

Top Tips and advice:

  1. Plan your journey home in advance:
    • It's quicker, cheaper and safer
    • Check online before you go out to make sure there are no disruptions to public transport
  2. Never travel in anything but a licensed cab:
    • Store the number of your local cab office and if you know what time you are going to be heading home, pre-book your cab in advance
    • There are now many cab companies that take your mobile number and send you full details of your driver / licence plate and telephone number, making this option even safer
  3. Enjoy a drink or two, but know when to draw the line:
    • Responsible drinking is always encouraged, although this does not mean you cannot enjoy yourself. Go out and have a few drinks but make sure you are always aware of how you will be getting home at the end of the night
    • If you are driving, be safe and arrange for a friend or relative to collect you from your location and drive you safely home.
  4. Do not travel home alone / make sure people know where you are:
    • When using public transport, try to go home with people going in the same direction as you
    • Always tell friends or a relative where are going to be and when you expect you will be home, it is important that someone knows where you are on a night out
  5. Keep your options open:
    • Always make sure that you have more than one option for getting home. Never rely on just one form of transport
  6. Don't get caught stranded:
    • Make sure you have enough cash on you at all times so that you do not need to use a cashpoint at the end of your night
    • You can even leave emergency money at home to pay for your taxi

Biography

James Cracknell is one of Britain's most successful athletes with two Olympic Gold medals and six World Championships to his name. Since retiring from International competition James has been far from idle and in 2005, he took on the mighty challenge of rowing across the Atlantic with TV presenter Ben Fogle all filmed for the BBC documentary Through Hell and High Water. Applying the same determination, competitiveness and stubborn streak that James showed during Olympic preparations, Ben and James were the first boat to arrive in the Caribbean despite there only being one professional rower on board.

This December, James will once again team up with Ben Fogle to take part in the Amundsen Omega3 South Pole Race. Together with a third team member, they will race against 9 other teams, hoping to reach the South Pole, first, around mid-January 2009.