Meet the Team Alcohol and Drug Partnership Support
Q: Tell us about the work your team delivers.
A: The Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) Support Team are responsible in leading the implementation of the ADP Strategic Plan in North Ayrshire. Fundamentally, the ADP Support Team facilitate opportunities for partners across services and the community in North Ayrshire to come together and collaborate to reduce risk and harms associated with alcohol and drug use.
Q: Share some recent success stories or positive news from your team.
A: Tackling alcohol and drug related harms requires a multifaceted response at various levels. The ADP Support Team reports on, represents and distributes funding to various partners providing support and interventions across the landscape of in statutory, residential, and community-based services in North Ayrshire.
The Support Team have effectively facilitated opportunities for people from different areas to come together to work in partnership to share practice, learning, and resources to improve people’s knowledge of support services and how they can work practically together.
In recent times, this is best evidenced by the increased engagement with young people and schools. The ADP Support Team have worked alongside education services to develop our S1 Roadshows which are now delivered in every secondary schools in North Ayrshire.
The roadshow was informed and developed after engagement with young people and school staff to determine how education on alcohol and drugs should be delivered.
The roadshows are now being delivered for a second year with partners from the Prevention and Service Support Team, Turning Point Scotland, Barnardo’s, Children’s 1st, NADARS, Trading Standards and Police Scotland all contributing to a full day of workshops facilitated for young people.
Additionally, S3 pupils watched a presentation of Mark Wheeler’s ‘I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won’t Die’ as part of TiE It Up Theatre’s autumn schools tour.
The play was developed in conjunction with drug education charity the DSM Foundation, which was set up in January 2014 by Tim and Fiona Spargo-Mabbs in the response to the loss of their 16-year-old son Daniel who died after taking Ecstasy. Feedback from pupils and teachers has been very positive and the ADP Support Team will continue to work alongside education to develop more opportunities like this for young people.
In statutory services, the Medication Assisted Treatment Standards continue to be implemented in line with Scottish Government expectations to make support more accessible for people with support needs related to opiates.
In the community, the support team are working alongside the Community Justice Ayrshire Partnership and Minds of Recovery to deliver a support drop in for people who have recently been liberated from prison back to North Ayrshire.
The pilot is in its infancy but so far it has provided much needed support in linking people in with essential services.
Q: What are the team’s ambitions to improve health for people living in North Ayrshire?
A: The ADP Support Team will continue to develop and grow the people who engage with the ADP agenda. We are just about to publish our new strategic plan which will include outcomes related to the continued development of our statutory services, our work focused on prevention and education to ensure people in communities and our staff have training opportunities so they’re informed on the latest trends related to alcohol and drug use, and continued development of our support for children and families who are impacted someone else’s substance use.
We will continue to promote the use of naloxone as a life-saving first aid measure to help prevent drug related deaths in North Ayrshire.
