PUPILS from a Ferryhill school have been working with youngsters on a drugs awareness programme.
Volunteers from Ferryhill Comprehensive School have been visiting feeder schools as part of a peer-led drugs education project.
The Out There Project encourages young people to talk to others about drug issues, with the emphasis on harm reduction.
The team recruited a group of 12 volunteers from Ferryhill to follow a training programme that included information on the effects of drugs, slang names for drugs and harm minimisation.
Project worker Marie Griffiths said: "They then went down to the primary schools to teach the year six pupils basic drug awareness for when they go to secondary school.
"It also works as a buddying system, so when they go up to the comprehensive school they have got a friendly face.
"It is all voluntary and they have been putting in up to three hours a week."
Those who took part in the project have visited almost 170 primary school pupils.
They also gain a qualification equivalent to a GCSE pass.
Danielle Maughan and Leanne Clark, both 15, are two of the pupils who have joined the project. Both feel they have got a lot out of it.
Leanne said: "I have got a lot of experience and confidence. My favourite part has been working with the kids because some of them are great."
Danielle said: "It was interesting to learn about the effects of drugs and the impact it has. I would recommend the course to anyone."
The project, which included a pilot scheme in Tudhoe last year, will continue in Ferryhill and expand to other areas next year.
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