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January 2026 – Schools Update |
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Dear <<First Name>>
A new year bring new opportunities, and Team Dan is ready to continue our mission with renewed energy. We’re committed to equipping young people with the knowledge, confidence and practical skills they need to navigate decisions about drugs and stay safe.
In this newsletter, we’re sharing what’s coming up in the months ahead, and how your ongoing support helps to reach even more young people with our life-saving work. Together, we can make 2026 a year of real impact. |
What’s new for drugs education?
We are really busy with student workshop delivery – last term saw us in 87 settings delivering 138 workshops that reached nearly 18,000 young people (you can see where on our socials, so do follow us on Facebook, Instagram and/or LinkedIn) – so don’t delay in contacting bookings coordinator Nikki (bookings@dsmfoundation.org.uk) if you want us to visit. We always work with settings to make sure we deliver the most relevant content to whoever we are speaking to: students, staff, or parents and caregivers.
We have a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund for a limited number of workshops for parents and caregivers, which can be in person or live-streamed. Please get in touch using the above email if you’d like to schedule one of these for your school community. This is also the best contact for enquiries about training sessions on drugs for school staff or any other professionals working with young people. |
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More information about all our provision can be found in our delivery booklet here. |
What’s new for 'I Love You, Mum'?
The six week London tour of ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’ performed by Tie It Up Theatre is underway, and being incredibly well received. We still have a very small number of slots – some with funding attached – so please contact play@dsmfoundation.org.uk if you’d like to find out more.
Mark Wheeller’s recounting of Dan’s story in the words of his family and friends will also be returning to Northern Ireland later this term, once more performed by Ever Unique Productions. This is a three week tour, delivering (already subsidised in cost) performances funded by Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs) across the region. Contact play@dsmfoundation.org.uk to find out more.
Northern Ireland will be our third tour this academic year, with Tie It Up Theatre having put on 45 live performances in Scotland last term, which reached over 11,000 young people – of those who completed a feedback survey, 95 per cent said they had learned more about the possible consequences of taking drugs, 94 per cent said they had learned more about the impact of drug use on others, and 92 per cent said the workshop that followed gave them useful information and advice. We are delighted that this moving piece of drama continues to make such an impact. |
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The filmed version of the play continues to be attractive for some settings outside our live tours. We know that it can be challenging for schools to allocate the 90 minutes in one go that is needed in order to view the performance and then deliver the teacher-led workshop (an essential part of the provision, as it enables students to process what they have seen as well as take away tangible knowledge and skills that will help them in the future), so we have developed an alternative version that can be delivered in three 30 minute sessions. Contact bookings@dsmfoundation.org.uk to find out more. |
What’s new for Scotland?
Autumn term was a very busy one for us in Scotland, with the play travelling further than ever before as already described. We also continued delivering commissioned sessions across all state secondary schools in Moray, and the pilot of our programme for Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYVs), commissioned by Police Scotland, taking place in Elgin.
We’re delighted to have appointed Diane Ord as our new Scottish Drug Education Coordinator. Based in Aberdeenshire and having lived and worked in the Grampian region all her life, Diane brings a wealth of knowledge of the area, its needs and its services, and experience of the drug and alcohol sector where she has worked for the last two decades. She has recently achieved an MSc in Substance Use with a focus on lived experience, graduating from the University of Stirling in March 2025. Diane can be contacted at scotland@dsmfoundation.org.uk |
What’s new for us?
Since our last newsletter, Rachel Taylor has joined us in our new Operations Coordinator role. She has already done an incredible job, using her skills & experience to support our finance systems and improving several of our regular processes, and helping to organise Fiona’s complex diary & remit.
Fiona continues to chair the national Drug Education Forum, whose ever-expanding membership benefits from hearing from leading experts in the field at regular online events and a podcast series, and from connecting with others working in the sector. Details of the next two events – one on emerging drug trends, and the other on drugs on social media and also covering ketamine – can be found on the DEF’s Eventbrite here. Tickets are free, and staff involved in delivering or organising drug education through PSHE/PSE in schools and colleges are very welcome to sign up. |
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As many of our regular readers know, a research team at Middlesex University has been evaluating our drug education programme, with government funding awarded via the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Innovation Fund. This ended last September, and the final report is still underway, but pupil focus groups contributed great insights and advice for young people, parents/caregivers and teachers, which have been put onto posters as one of the evaluation outcomes. We’ll be sharing these on our socials so keep an eye out. |
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What’s new on our site?
‘Safer Choices’, our programme for young people looking for a Bronze or Silver level Skill as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award has been updated and is now available free of charge. Download it here. It sits alongside all our PSHE/PSE resources, which are differentiated by year group and amount of time allocated within a setting’s timetable, and are also free to download – check them out for England and Wales here, and for Scotland here.
We have also added to our Ask The Expert area, with content from Tracy Lumb of SOS-UK on the topic of university students and drugs, and Will Lawn of King’s College London who has done some great videos on cannabis. Find it all here. |
Help us help young people... We have two places left in the 2026 Brighton Marathon. If you or someone you know would like to experience this unique city-to-sea route, you can find all the details and how to register here.
This year we won’t be holding our annual DSMF Quiz Night, but we’d love to keep the tradition alive with your help. Could you rally your friends, colleagues or community and host a quiz fundraiser in aid of the Foundation? Whether it’s in a school hall, community centre, sports club, your workplace, or even around your kitchen table, every question asked and every pound raised helps us continue our life-saving work with young people.
Exeter University and UCL are doing some research into views on the classification of ketamine (at the time of writing, the influential Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), on which Fiona sits, was considering whether it warranted a move from Class B to Class A, as well as other ways in which the risks to young people posed by this drug can be addressed). We know this is a hot topic in may schools and colleges, so the survey can be accessed here (note it is only for those aged 16 years and over) and takes around 15 minutes to complete. Participants can opt in for a chance to win a £300 Amazon voucher.
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… and the help that has already helped!
A huge thank you to Year 7 and 8 pupils from Orleans Park School who went MADD ‘Make A Difference Day’ in support of the Foundation. Students took part in a fun Christmas quiz during their PSHE lessons at the end of last year, raising £526.67! Thank you so much to everyone involved. We also want to say a huge thank you to Lochside Academy for raising £500 in December. Their fabulous Youth Ambassadors organised a bake sale, popup table, craft fair, and a “guess the volume in a jar” competition and even secured a donation from the school’s charities committee. We’re incredibly grateful for their hard work and for the school’s recognition of the commitment the Youth Ambassadors have shown to the DSM Foundation.
As the new year begins, it’s a great time for schools to make a real impact. Our School Fundraising Pack is full of fun, student-led ideas for every season, perfect for form groups, student councils, and charity committees. Our drug education work is only partly funded by contributions, so every pound raised helps us reach more young people with vital, lifesaving education. Your school’s support helps close the gap and keep students across the UK safer. Ready to get involved? Contact Grace at grace@dsmfoundation.org.uk. |
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Registered Charity no. 1158921 (CCEW) and SC052164 (OSCR) Palmerston House
814 Brighton Road
Purley
Surrey
CR8 2BR
United Kingdom |
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