Drug and alcohol projects to receive £2m funding

Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety Bairbre de Brún has announced that a total of 41 projects are to receive £2m to tackle drug and alcohol misuse in the community.

The money will go to fund a range of community-based initiatives, which were drawn up earlier this year by the four Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Teams.

The Teams’ local action plans compliment the Regional Action Plan which sets out over 150 activities across the areas of treatment, education and prevention, communities, information and research, social legislation and criminal justice.

Ms de Brún said: “I am delighted to be able to announce that 41 projects have been successful in this round of funding. These projects will build on work already ongoing and will work with the four Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Teams to help fulfil activities contained in the Local Action Plans.”

The 41 projects to receive funding will fill a number of identified gaps in current services including: work with street drinkers in the Derry area, intravenous drug users in South Belfast, tackling teenage drinking in Cookstown, family support in Ballymena and peer education programmes in the Southern Board area.

A number of community development workers will also be employed and a range of education programmes for schools and youth clubs will also be funded.

Jo Daykin, the Northern Ireland Drug and Alcohol Strategy Co-ordinator, outlined the difference this money would make in the community: “These new community initiatives will be delivered by local agencies who are best placed to respond to community needs and I have no doubt about their potential to impact significantly on drug and alcohol problems at local level."

In April 2001, a paper entitled ‘Model for the Joint Implementation of the Drug and Alcohol Strategies’ was presented to the Ministerial Group on Drugs and received endorsement from the Executive in May this year.

Applications from the community, voluntary and statutory sectors were invited to help the Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Teams carry out the range of activities listed in the local action plans.

(SP)