We are also extremely happy with the Home Affairs committee proposals to address drink spiking with many of the recommendations that we proposed being taken forward.

The Alcohol Education Trust are extremely pleased with the recommendations from The Home Affairs Committee on Drink Spiking. Helena Conibear our CEO submitted both written and verbal evidence to the Committee and is thrilled that nearly all of the proposals that the AET put forward are being taken forward.

Helena commented,  'The lack of reporting by those who have been victims of drink spiking, the lack of collecting forensic evidence from those who are brave enough to share their ordeal and the lack of prosecutions have allowed the perpetrators of spiking to get away with this crime for far too long.

At last we have some concrete proposals that will address the crime - the reclassification of the most common drugs used for spiking and the move towards drink spiking being a stand alone offence and a focus on collecting evidence will make a huge difference to addressing this scourge on society.'

You can read the full report and recommendations here: Spiking - Committees - UK Parliament

The Home Affairs Committee have made a good video of their findings with testimonials from forensic toxicologists and a victim of drink spiking that you can view here:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH3xBOoVJWI&feature=share 

Remember, we have a range of resources on drink spiking-including two short films- which you can access via Drink spiking - Alcohol Education Trust .

The Home Office has said that GHB and two related substances, GBL and 1,4-BD, have been reclassified in a bid to deter criminals.Those in unlawful possession of the Class B drugs will face up to five years behind bars, with up to 14 years for those involved in supply and production. 

Our amazing work with The Longleigh Foundation has enabled us to double our remit and extend our work to support young people up to the age of 25. As a result of this, we are very excited to launch our brand new website for 16-25 year olds - www.life-stuff.org . The site includes helpful advice and information on a wide range of topics including:

• Alcohol
• Drugs
• Mental health
• Gaming/gambling
• Money
• Domestic violence and sexual abuse
• Festivals
• Travelling abroad
• Consent

We would love to hear what you think of the site so please do forward any comments or suggestions to kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org .

We were excited to celebrate PiP’s first birthday on the 16^th April. We moved into our office, community space and café in the middle of lockdown 2021 and what a fantastic year we have had!

It has been amazing what we have achieved in terms of community engagement including teenage hang outs, after school and holiday clubs, supper clubs, senior socials and huge community events for Halloween and Christmas as well as welcoming 207 families for an Easter hunt.

We have produced a video which you can view here: PiP 1 year anniversary - YouTube illustrating the events held at PiP and showing that we really have become the heart of the park!

Lynsey is an experienced trainer and a specialist in alcohol and drugs. She has delivered a variety of rehabilitation courses working with offenders to develop behaviour change techniques to reduce reoffending.

If you would like to book staff training, learn more about our Talk about Alcohol 6 key lesson plans, scheme of work for SEN children or our 16 – 25 programme on alcohol and cannabis and are based in London, The East or South East, please email lynsey@alcoholeducationtrust.org

It’s been so busy over the last couple of months with such a variety of training delivered to numerous agencies. I am so pleased to be out delivering face to face sessions again, which really reminds me why I love my job!

The Talk About Alcohol session with Strive Education, an alternative education provision in Harrogate was so much fun, staff really got involved with all the activities and they can’t wait to use them with their students.

I was delighted visit York to deliver another Talk about Alcohol session for North Yorkshire Police School Liaison Team. It was an absolute pleasure. We are able to support them with our Talk about Alcohol Activity Box for each of their areas. Officers are now equipped to deliver fun, engaging and interactive sessions to young people in schools across the whole of North Yorkshire - all thanks to funding received from the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner.

A little further North took me to Cramlington in Northumberland. Staff from Northumbria Police Cadets and the Buffalo Youth Project attended a Talk about Alcohol session. Huge thanks to Northumberland County Council, Education & Skills for coordinating, I’m looking forward to returning soon to deliver more sessions.

It was a delight to deliver our 16+ Alcohol & Cannabis training to the Prince's Trust staff, both in Leeds and in Newcastle. We've developed a fantastic partnership over the last few months and myself and Karen Perryman have been delivering our 16+ Alcohol & Cannabis resource training to The Prince's Trust staff and delivery partners across England - to date around 100 staff and delivery partners have been trained in the North.

Training has been happening across the Fylde coast as well. I was delighted to deliver our Talk about Alcohol training to Residential Support Staff from Connect Care Solutions, Thornton-Cleveleys, who provide emergency, solo residential care for some of our most disadvantaged young people from age 8-18 years old. What a fabulous staff team - It's brilliant when staff see the difference our resources can make to young people. I am looking forward to delivering a further session soon to another one of Connect Care homes.

My most recent session was a virtual 16+ Alcohol & Cannabis resource training staff at Blackpool Coastal Training, which will benefit young people on their Positive Transitions Pathway. This provides tailored, intensive tenancy management and life coaching for young people leaving care to help them become successful tenants and positive contributors to the community. How fantastic! Really looking forward to feedback about the sessions.

It's been an absolute delight working in partnership with Lancashire Youth Commission and it was an honour to attend their Big Conversation Conference at Lancashire Police Headquarters. It was really interesting listening to the 6 main priority areas addressed by over 2400 young people in Lancashire and their suggestions for dealing with them – hate crime, drugs and alcohol, relationship with the police, mental health, online violence and abusive relationships. It’s such a pleasure working in partnership with you all and I wish you all the best of luck.

There’s been so much going on behind the scenes as well, with new partnerships developing in Bradford, Doncaster, Calderdale, West Cumbria and Wakefield! If you’re a school or youth organisation in any of these areas please do get in touch to see how we’re able to support you via kathryn@alcoholeducationtrust.org .

“Great resources – will plan lessons as soon as possible.”

“Thanks for great training! Enjoyable course.”

Providing training to all youth professionals makes for many and varied partnerships. Over the past few months, I have partnered with the Department of Work and Pensions in the Mercia region, Birmingham Children in Care nursing team and Shropshire Street Based youth workers to name but a few. By providing our resources and training, together we can prevent underage drinking and reduce drunkenness and its associated harms.

This week I was beamed into Moulton School and Science College, Northamptonshire to deliver an alcohol awareness sessions to Year 12s. I was bowled over by the participation, enthusiasm and knowledge of the students.

With parents and carers being the main supplier of alcohol to underage drinkers, I have been broadcasting AET's key messages to parents/ carers at Chew Valley School near Bristol and filmed a podcast for Parenting Soundly.

Drink-drive related have fallen 88% between 1979 and 2015. However, there has been an increase in drug-related driving offences, with over 12,000 convicted in 2019 and 44% committed by reoffenders.

In 2020, 713 people were seriously injured in drug-driving collisions, up from 499 in 2016, and some police forces are arresting more drug drivers than drink-drivers. That’s why the government is taking action to protect the public and make drug-driving as much of a social taboo as drink-driving. The call for evidence will also look at how medical cannabis impacts road safety.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/protecting-the-public-from-repeat-drug-driving-offenders-call-for-evidence