We hope you had a lovely half term break! It feels that Autumn is now well underway. In this edition of our newsletter, you can choose to take part in an important survey looking at drug availability on social media being conducted by University College London, find out about the law change on NOS, The Good Childhood report findings and more. As always, we are here to support you across the UK with our resources and training sessions delivered by our incredibly knowledgeable and experienced regionally based staff. Do get in touch via kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org if we can help in  any way.

As we reflect on the impact of our work at The Alcohol Education Trust this year (our year ends on the 30^th September), we are so proud of what we have managed to achieve as a tiny team of 9!

Nationally, over 1230 settings such as schools, special schools, pupil referral units and youth and sports clubs have been supported with our award-winning AET resources, training or student workshops. As you know, we are able in most cases to support you without charge – and we have delivered 212 training sessions to teachers, SENco’s and youth workers and been involved in 220 other events such as assemblies, conferences and parent talks this year. This includes all aspects of alcohol and cannabis awareness, right up to age 25 – and more recently covers vaping, the law, the effects social and physical, social norms, drink spiking, how to make safer choices, consent and vulnerability. We support young people, their parents and carers, teachers and youth professionals through our four wonderful regionally-based staff who visit schools, train professionals and support parents day to day across England and Scotland. You can find their emails at the bottom of this newsletter.

The wonderful teachers and youth professionals that we train evaluate our workshops and results from 220 of those trained this year just on talk about alcohol, shows confidence rises from 6/10 before the session to 9/10 afterwards concerning knowledge and awareness about alcohol and signposting young people for help. In addition, 68% said they will change their approach to social norms (most overestimate use) and 81% will make alcohol education more interactive with group discussions and activities as a result of our training.

Nitrous oxide (NOS),used by about 4% of 16 – 24 year olds in the last year, will become illegal for recreational use from 8 November 2023. The Home Office have published key information about the changes here: MEDIA FACT SHEET: NITROUS OXIDE BAN - Home Office in the media (blog.gov.uk)

Nitrous oxide is a colourless gas and while it has legitimate uses in medical, culinary, industrial, and other fields, it can also be used as a recreational drug by inhalation.

It was already illegal to produce, supply, import or export NOS for psychoactive purposes under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. But the law has been updated.

From 8th November 2023:

• Possession: Having nitrous oxide without a valid reason is illegal and is now categorised as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. If found in possession with the intention of inhalation for psychoactive effects, individuals could face an unlimited fine, community punishment, or a caution. Repeat offenders could face up to two years in prison.

• Supply or Production: The penalty for supplying or producing NOS has doubled, with a potential prison sentence of up to 14 years.

A Researcher, Ashley Fuller, who spoke at our Newcastle conference in June, from University College London is conducting a survey looking at the experiences of teenagers using social media and how seeing drugs on these platforms might affect them. The hope is to ensure that young people can be kept safer around drugs both off and online. The research aims to understand young people's experiences better and to see what can be done to improve safety with the platforms being used.

Please do get involved and ask the young people you know (aged 13-25) to have their say!

You can find out all you need to know and the link to the survey via Survey instructions and materials - Alcohol Education Trust 

Participants should read the information sheet before being presented with the survey.

Please do contact kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org if you would like further information.

Recent research by Drinkaware looks at how 20% of young adults are choosing not to drink alcohol. Their findings show that 1 in 5 young adults are non-drinkers and that this group is less likely to drink weekly or more often than the rest of the population.

To read the full report, go to the-sober-myth-are-young-adults-really-a-generation-of-non-drinkers.pdf (drinkaware.co.uk)

The Children's Society have recently published their latest Good Childhood Report for 2023 which looks into how children in the UK feel about various aspects of their lives. You can read the full report via Children’s wellbeing in the UK 2023 - What Works Wellbeing