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.