19 May 2008
Immediate Release
A local charity will be taking recovering drug users to visit South Yorkshire schools during national Tackling Drugs Week (19-23 May 2008) to teach youngsters about the severe damage that drugs can cause to individual health, family life and the wider community.
Rotherham-based Action Housing & Support provides assistance to hundreds of vulnerable adults with complex needs which often include severe drug addictions. The charity provides housing-related support to help people gain their independence, deal with their problems and build more stable lifestyles.
Many of the individuals that Action supports were affected by drugs at an early age, so the charity also educates young people of the risks and tries to help them to avoid the dangers.
Mick Moran, a resident at Action’s Sheffield project will be visiting a local school on Thursday 22 May, said: “I’ve been battling heroin for the past twenty years and it’s a fight that’s taken me to prison three times, broken my family and caused massive pain for myself and the people around me.
“With the right support I managed to find my feet and sort myself out but it should never have got that far in the first place. I want to give the kids a first-hand account of what it’s like to be under the total control of hard drugs and how easy it is to destroy everything in your life.”
Eve Hagon, manager of Action’s Sheffield project, said: “We’re here to pick up the pieces and help fix broken lives after substance misuse has already taken its toll. What we’d really like to see is fewer people getting involved in the first place so we really need to explain to young people how serious these dangers are and how much is at risk.”
Notes to Editors
Mick Moran will be visiting Dinnington Comprehensive on Thursday 22 May from 2-3pm. Photographers will be welcome, provided the identity of children can be protected.
To arrange interviews with service users or staff, please contact Matt Barker on 07985813045.
For further information please contact:
Matt Barker in the Public Relations office on 01709 821251, 07985813045, or Matt.Barker@ActionHousinguk.org
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