Funding from Moray Council has enabled over 1,350 young people across eight schools to engage with Dan’s story through the play ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’, with over 2,300 students across six schools having a workshop delivered by one of the DSM Foundation’s experienced and knowledgeable drug educators. Nearly 100 staff members have also had a training session to enable them to better understand the context of drugs and decision making faced by the young people in their care, with 100 per cent of those providing feedback saying they would recommend our work to a friend or colleague.
These findings, which track the reach and impact of the drugs education that has been made possible by a grant issued by Moray Council through its Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, are contained in an interim report that covers the autumn term of 2024. It describes how 92 per cent of students providing feedback after seeing a performance of the play said that they felt it gave useful information and advice, and 90 per cent said they had learned more about the possible consequences of taking drugs. As one said: “It educated you without someone speaking at you, the story meant you really listened.”
The student workshops were also well received, with one student commenting “you can learn a lot on how to stay safe in certain situations”, and staff highlighting how useful and up to date they felt the provision was, with one saying “very powerful and hard hitting, and yet accessible and clear” and another opining “this session was pitched perfectly at the age group of pupils in attendance, it was interactive, engaging and relevant”. The full interim report can be accessed here: Moray Interim Report December 2024
The funding was issued following a successful pilot project which saw three schools in the Moray region receiving drugs education through the DSM Foundation, and means that all eight schools in the area are able to put in this provision for their students, staff and parents/caregivers completely free of charge – more delivery has been undertaken this term and will continue for the rest of the 2024-25 academic year. For more on our work in Scotland, please contact Don Thomas at don@dsmfoundation.org.uk; for anywhere else, please email bookings@dsmfoundation.org.uk.
