Why are we needed?

Children & Young people

Children who drink regularly and heavily before the age of 15 are significantly more likely to try drugs, smoke, engage in unprotected or risky sex, be injured or assaulted. GCSE predictions fall by 20 points, the difference between a grade 9 and a grade 5. Early drinking is also a significant predictor of problematic use in later life.

Young people who use drugs when 14 or younger have the greatest risk for drug dependence (34% prevalence rate of lifetime drug use disorders). It is also a significant predictor of lifetime alcohol dependence. The most common substances used by teenagers are alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and NOS.

Low well-being was much more likely amongst pupils who recently smoked, drank and/or have taken drugs as low levels of life satisfaction were at 57% compared to 18% for those who have not smoked, drunk or tried drugs.

1 in 4 pupils (24%) have ever and 16.5% young adults aged 16 to 24 years reported last year drug use (end March 2023) – 5% of those class A.

15% of 11-year-olds have had a whole alcoholic drink rising to 62% of 15-year-olds.

According to ASH vaping prevalence has increased by 50% in one year from one in 13 to one in 9 teenagers with 4 in 5 saying they have seen vapes promoted and advertised.

Of the 14,352 under 18’s in treatment, 87% are there predominantly for cannabis and its derivatives, followed by alcohol (39%) – 61% were young males.

An estimated 1 in 10 under the age of 25 have experienced having their drink spiked or needle spiking and in 2022/23 there were 6,700 cases of spiking recorded by the police according to the NPCC.

Peers may influence other young people to engage in or refrain from substance use directly or indirectly, there is a dramatic rise in levels of use among young people who believe most, or all of their friends, drink or take drugs.

Young people who experience childhood adversity and trauma such as emotional or physical abuse, family breakdown or neglect are particularly at risk. A young person experiencing four traumas is 11 times more likely to smoke cannabis and 4 times more likely to binge drink.

It is estimated that 14% of care leavers drink alcohol every day, a third use cannabis and a third use alcohol as ways to cope, deal with anxiety or to help forget trauma.

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are three times more likely to face addiction when older. A diagnosis of ADHD or associated behavioural disorder is the greatest predictor of problematic alcohol or drug use.

Children with learning difficulties are three times more likely to be abused, with alcohol a factor in grooming and violence.

Young people who drop out of school, are 4 times more likely to be regular cannabis users and 1.2 times more likely to binge drink.

Excluded children are five times more likely to have used alcohol or drugs on the last month. In 2022/23, 24,073 children were excluded for a fixed period and 590 were excluded permanently from state schools in England due to alcohol or drugs. In 2019, the National Crime Agency found that 100% of children involved in County Lines had been excluded from school, and they also found that being excluded from school is a contributing factor leading to a young person’s risk of criminal exploitation

Alcohol and Drugs can be both a cause and consequence of homelessness and the homeless population is 10 times more likely to be in treatment for alcohol or drugs. 35% of deaths of homeless people were related to drug poisoning in 2021 and 10% were alcohol-specific deaths.

Prison surveys suggest that 40% of inmates were under the influence of alcohol and 45% were under the influence of drugs at the time of committing an offence.

Lack of stable employment and lack of stable housing are significant contributors to poor mental health and turning to drink or drugs to cope with deprivation. The most deprived are 7 times more likely to have an alcohol related hospital admission and 16 times more likely to have a drugs related hospital admission.

The total number of children living with people starting treatment was 50,053 in 2023. Young people living with alcohol or drug dependent parents/carers report living highly disrupted, insecure and chaotic lives. They also experience shame, stigma, and discrimination due to their association with a parent/carer who uses substances.

Between 2020/21-2022/23 there were 9,226 alcohol specific hospital admissions for under 18s in England - that’s 25 per day.

A whole school approach for every child is crucial, so that we can equip all young people with the skills, knowledge and tools to make safer choices about alcohol and drugs before experimentation begins. The likelihood of lifetime substance misuse drops 4-5% for each year use is delayed, hence independent evaluation showing that our Talk About Alcohol programme significantly raises the age teenagers choose to drink is paramount to improving young people’s life chances. We are thrilled, post successful pilot, to be rolling out similar early intervention and prevention programmes for drugs and vaping in secondary schools and piloting vaping resources in primary schools.

We engage young people with an interactive online platform talkaboutalcohol.com that encourages them to build knowledge and find out in a fun way, through games and quizzes, about the effects of alcohol and other substances on their physical and mental wellbeing. Life-stuff.org also provides tips, information and support to help ages 16+ with health, wellbeing and social issues.

Our activities, rehearsal strategies and role play allow young people to work out for themselves the effect of impulsive behaviour, enabling them to make more responsible, informed choices.

We have developed a complex suite of resources and training using proven communication methods for young people with learning difficulties using colours, stories, scenarios, pictures, emojis, cartoons and techniques such as distancing and using characters.

We include cannabis and vaping in our early intervention and harm reduction approaches and support young people, schools, youth and sports clubs as well as parents around both cannabis and vaping.

We focus our training and support workers in areas of high deprivation where alcohol and substance related harms are highest.

We have targeted streams of work supporting care experienced children and those who face a greater risk of substance dependency and misuse.

WWe work very closely with the Youth Offending Teams as well as training staff in pupil referral units being careful not to trigger trauma or stigma at all times.

We correct social norms – namely the fact that most young people do not use drugs or get drunk.

We work closely with partners who ensure disadvantaged young people are given the best chances through building their self esteem, life skills, training and employability. We support staff with training, resources and the skills to support young adults around alcohol and cannabis misuse and vaping.

We support young people in alternative education and provide training and resources to those working with them.

We work closely with virtual school and foster agencies who support care experienced children and care leavers. We have a bespoke alcohol and cannabis programme for 16 – 25 year olds leaving care or at risk of homelessness living in assisted accommodation. Training and resources enable life coaches to have one to one conversations around higher harms, levels of use, consequences, grooming, consent and other relevant issues.

Our staff training and materials at all times avoid stigma and triggering trauma and highlight the importance of being supportive, empathetic, non-judgemental and how to offer targeted support and referral to specialist family charities working in this area specifically.

Why are we needed?

Schools & Health Professionals

Health Education became a statutory requirement for schools to deliver in September 2020, including alcohol and drug education. Teachers and youth workers cite not having enough time and not being subject experts as barriers to delivering effective health education.

According to the most recent Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Survey, only half of pupils said they received lessons on alcohol (56%), smoking (56%) or drugs (60%).

Lessons peaked in year 9, and only half of those pupils thought their school gave them enough information about smoking (52%), drinking alcohol (51%) or drug use (48%) meaning half of children are not sufficiently prepared for the challenges and choices they will face around alcohol and drugs.

In 2022/23, there were 590 permanent exclusions from schools in England due to alcohol or drugs.

Schools generally have little budget, training or guidance for RSHE.

Charities and commissioned services supporting vulnerable children and young adults lack the expertise, resources and training to support them around alcohol and drugs.

We provide an easy one stop shop for busy, time-poor teachers where they can download lesson plans, implementation and evaluation guidance by topic or by ability for each year group.

We make our evidenced Talk About Alcohol programme and resources on cannabis and vaping available free of charge to all secondary schools across Britain.

We train teachers and youth professionals and provide ongoing guidance so they feel confident and knowledgeable in teaching about alcohol and other substances

We provide games, one to one and small group activities suitable for use with young people in alternative settings, sports and youth clubs together with free training.

We provide workshops, training and resources to life coaches and mentors of young adults in settings such as Foyers, Housing Associations and for organisations such as The Prince’s Trust.

Why are we needed?

Communities & Families

Children living in households where parents drink to excess are more likely to drink early and problematically.

Young people who use alcohol or drugs have significantly lower parental supervision than those who don’t use substances.

Parenting that increases alcohol and drug use includes: a lack of parental monitoring, high levels of parent/child conflict and a child’s lack of willingness to disclose information to their parents.

Parents and carers are the prime suppliers of alcohol to under 18s.

The greater the number of unsupervised evenings with friends, the greater the likelihood that young people will report having consumed alcohol in the last week and having used drugs in the last month.

Our research shows that 93% of parents and carers overestimate the number of teenagers who drink and get drunk and so supply their children with alcohol, thinking they’ll get it elsewhere, otherwise.

We help parents and carers to understand why drinking at too young an age and drinking too much can harm their child’s short and long term health and also how drinking outside of the home raises the likelihood of other risk taking such as smoking or taking drugs.

We correct perceived social norms with positive messages on how teenagers are drinking and getting drunk far less than they were 10 years ago.

We give positive parenting tips that reduce all risk taking such as how to set boundaries, be a good role model and know where their children are.

We empower parents to resist teen pressure and manipulation.

We explain teen brain development and how early use of alcohol and other substances significantly increases the likelihood of problematic use and dependency and can permanently change developmental pathways.

Why are we needed?

Why are we needed?

Why are we needed?

Why are we needed?

Parents & Carers

Ages

Schools

Year groups

Regions

SEN

Community Educators & FE Providers

Ages