Support and training for professionals

If you’re an individual, or an organisation, working with young people, then we are here to support you with any drug or alcohol related questions or issues you may have.

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Whether you’re looking for simple information or advice, wanting to get support for a young person you are worried about, or want to access training for your workforce, we are here to help.

We want to create a world where every young person gets the support and information they need, and no one has to struggle alone. We’ve detailed some of the ways we can support professionals and organisations to do this, below.

*If you’re looking for information relating to our Mind and Body Programme - a mental health programme which supports young people who self harm or who are at risk of self harm, please see our dedicated Mind and Body page to find out about the training and support we provide to professionals on this subject.

Support available for professionals

If you are working with a young person and are worried about their drug or alcohol use, then you can speak with one of our Young Persons Workers for further information and advice. You can find out if we have Young People’s services in your area, along with service contact details, using our service finder.

If we are not delivering services in your area, you can find out who the provider is by contacting your local authority. Alternatively, you can chat with one of our trained substance use workers through webchat who will be able to point you in the right direction. We’re online between 9am and 9pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday. You can still message us outside of these hours and we will get back to you as soon as we open again.

If you are an organisation, or a team, operating in one of the areas where we deliver young people’s services, then you can access free training to help improve your organisation’s knowledge of young people and substance use.

Our standard training covers:

the different types of substances and associated risks
how substances can impact young people and their development
how you can support young people who may be at risk of substance related harm

We can also tailor training to a specific issue or area of delivery that your organisation is involved in.

Training can be delivered in your premises or we can offer a remote delivery option.

Please contact your local service using our service finder and we can discuss what options are available to you.

If you are an organisation or community group which frequently comes into contact with young people who are engaged in risk taking behaviour, then we would like to work with you. Some of the ways we work with partner services include:

Developing bespoke referral pathways which make it easy to refer young people to us
Developing information sharing agreements which facilitate communication around young people we jointly work with
Joint working options such as holding 3-way appointments, sharing space in our premises and regularly attending team meetings or case conference meetings
Joint outreach work, targeting key groups or hot spot areas
Consulting on policy development and service design

If you would like to develop a closer working relationship with one of our young people’s services, please contact your local service, and one of our management team will be in touch to arrange a chat.