Amy Winehouse’s father takes drugs fight to schools

By DAVID MERCER
Published on 11/03/2013 00:38

THE father of Amy Winehouse has warned that a generation of children are being put at risk by “woefully underfunded” drug and alcohol education.

Mitch Winehouse said there was a “worrying knowledge gap” about substance misuse among young people, as he prepares to join forces with comic Russell Brand to launch an education programme for schools.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation Resilience Programme will initially be rolled out to 50 secondary schools and will provide a free, confidential phone and online service for young people, supported by Childline.

Singer Amy died in July 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning at the age of 27.

“Everyone wants their kids to make informed choices when it comes to drugs and alcohol,” Mr Winehouse said. “But it’s such a complicated subject to understand – especially when you look at all the new legal highs that have appeared over the past few years – that it’s no wonder parents feel in the dark about what to do.

“Drugs education in schools is woefully underfunded and has been far too inconsistent.

“That’s if it happens at all. It doesn’t happen with any kind of regularity. And it doesn’t help teachers and parents to support the kids who really need it. That really needs to change.

“Our new secondary schools programme will give everyone – including parents, teachers and the pupils themselves – the skills and knowledge they need.”

Brand, who has battled drug problems in the past, is due to attend the launch at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, in central London, tomorrow.

The charity Addaction, which helped to develop the scheme, said it had seen an almost 25 per cent rise in the number of young people seeking help for drug and alcohol problems in the past five years.