The Young STAND Awards (Young Scots Tackling Alcohol and Drugs Awards) is an awards scheme co-hosted by Mentor Scotland and SCPHRP, aimed at young people who, through their schools or communities, are involved in projects which address alcohol and substance misuse.
Winner of the Community category:
Aberdeen City Council – Grade A (Get real about drugs education – Aberdeen)
Developed as a subgroup of the youth council Grade A arranged for training to increase their drug knowledge which in turn inspired them to develop a peer education group which would challenge the zero tolerance of schools and provide young people with the correct information. They developed a website along with a drugs education programme which was then delivered in schools and youth groups. They then launched a mobile app in 2013 to engage with young people on the move and provide instant information anonymously such as posting information on app when police of NHS warnings not to buy certain drugs.
Winner of the Schools category:
Youth Services Argyll and Bute – Isla and Jura Youth Connection Peer Education Project
In order to address the worrying cases of alcohol misuse in this area and through a common interest by the young people a peer education project has been developed with young people which has been delivered within schools and the local community. The young people have developed a training programme called SMASHED, have designed and filmed a video for workshop sessions, developed other workshops called Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls as well as organising alcohol free youth dances. They have also held sessions in local primary schools for parents, which in turn have seen them invited to deliver sessions to primary school children.
Finalists:
Pitlochry high school peer education group, helping young people have the confidence to make their own choices; Transitions Extreme, who use extreme sports examples to educate young people about the risks of legal highs; and Heads Up from West Dunbartonshire, working to inspire young people in secondary schools.
For Communities, the other finalists were: Aberlour Mentoring, where peer educators come up through the ranks; Making Connections, on the challenges faced by young people with type 1 diabetes; and Booze Busters with their ‘Drinking Stops You Thinking’ message.
