Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. Essex Young People's Drug and Alcohol Service is a Programme of The Children's Society.

We work with young people at risk from a range of vulnerabilities. At EYPDAS we want the same as professionals working with children and young people and families – to provide the best services for the local community and to support children and young people affected by substance misuse. We engage young people through a range of positive activities to increase their confidence and develop skills.

At EYPDAS’ celebration event in October 2013, Lauren, part of EYPDAS’ Hidden Harm project or the renamed to 'BFG' (Big Friendly Group), as that is what the group meant to them, shared her experiences of living with an alcoholic. We’re proud to share her speech below.

 

"Hello, my name is Lauren and I have been living with an active alcoholic for three years. Through this time I found the situation very hard, it was distracting me from my school work and I had started to push my close friends away.

I was then introduced to EYPDAS through my school. Ali, a member of the EYPDAS team, would see me every fortnight at school to do one-to-one sessions talking about what had happened since we last spoke.

These sessions changed my attitude towards life, as I started to feel more positive. Why should I feel depressed and down at the alcoholic’s expense?

Meeting others in a similar situation

After three months of these sessions I saw Liz, the Hidden Harm worker at EYPDAS for four months at school until she told me about a group she was putting together. This group would contain people my age and experiencing a similar situation as myself.

As a group we get up to a lot of fun such canoeing, games, arts and crafts and even a special day where we learnt survival skills. But with the fun of EYPDAS comes the seriousness of why we are there. Drug and alcohol sessions run by the workers gave us more of an insight into the effect that these substances have on us.

The loving and welcoming members and staff at EYPDAS create a relaxing environment for everyone to feel comfortable in. Because of this we are able to share our feelings as we know that we won’t be judged on what we have to say.

Along the way we have all picked up new skills, allowing us to put these to the test in our day to day lives. Without this group I would be at home with the problem in my life, feeling isolated and lost, but thanks to EYPDAS we all know as a group there is always someone for us to talk to. Thank you!"

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