A SUPPORT and advice service for young people faced with drug and alcohol problems has been launched.

Medway Young Persons’ Drug and Alcohol Services has been set up by Kent Council on Addiction (KCA) to help youngsters aged from 11 to 17.

The services will be provided at the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham.

Gayleen Winn, service manager for Medway, explained that the group was not just for teenagers who used drugs but for those with addicted parents, partners or other close associates too.

She said: “It’s as much about harm reduction and helping users to stay healthy as about getting them off drugs.”

“If a person is injecting, we can at least encourage them not to share needles, or perhaps to take drugs in a less harmful way.

“It’s also about breaking the cycle of addiction and creating strategies to help drug or alcohol users to change their behaviour, and think differently about what they are doing.

Isolation

“We can also help them find solutions to problems in their lives. Drug addiction seldom happens in isolation.”

She said a lot of work was done to get involved with youngsters before they began using drugs, in the hope of preventing them from doing so.

This meant identifying individuals who were at risk, or who had parents who were users. Minority groups, such as asylum seekers, were also targeted, to make sure they were aware of the laws relating to drugs, and the dangers involved.

She added: “We want to help these youngsters build their self-esteem and realise they do not have to face their problems alone.”

Medway Young Person’s Drug and Alcohol Service has been based at the Sunlight Centre for several months. Its workers talk to youngsters on a one-to-one basis as well as in groups.

The service makes itself know through schools, housing associations, youth clubs and other organisations concerned with young people.

It also encourages them to come forward as individuals to seek help, if they feel they need it.

Call the centre on 01634 338640 or e-mail medway@kca.org.uk