Teachers and youth workers are being urged to use new resources to raise awareness of drug and alcohol issues among young people.
Cumbria Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service (CADAS) has created a digital presentation for secondary school children.
Leigh Williams, chief executive of CADAS, said: “When mental health is poor, people can turn to drugs and alcohol.
“The pandemic is only escalating poor mental health among some young people so we know that having strong and solid drug and alcohol preventative education and proactive support when it is needed is key for Cumbria over the next few years.
“We are calling on teachers and youth workers to get in touch with us if they are struggling to create sessions for personal, social, health and economic education, citizenship or tutorials classes.
“Normally we deliver our awareness sessions face-to-face.
“However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic that is not possible at the moment, so we have digitised them and created Powerpoint presentations.
“They focus on educating young people how to keep themselves and others safe, how to recognise the effects of substances and about the support services that are there to help them or their family.”
The charity has just appointed Emma Spedding as its new senior manager to run its services in north and West Cumbria.
She has also taken the lead on young people’s services across Cumbria.
She will help support young people with substance use and oversee the educational work of the charity in schools, colleges and youth groups.
Emma said: “My vision is to completely embrace the new technologies at our fingertips to enhance our services so we can reach as many people as possible.
“The geography in Cumbria is a barrier and digital transformation gives us a massive opportunity to reach many more people.
“We also want to get back to face-to-face sessions when it is safe to do so because people are really missing the contact.”
CADAS has dedicated centres in Barrow, Workington and Carlisle.
It also works out of GP practices and community hubs across the rest of Cumbria.
For more information, call 0300 111 4002 or 07745 266555.
