YouCan/Unity Young People's Programmes - Summer Updates

Jun 8
2 min read

Explore a young person's lived experience with ketamine, our drug and alcohol awareness sessions offer for educational professionals, and updates from the Easter holidays.

In this blog, we share all the latest news from our Young People's Programmes, YouCan, supporting young people affected by a relative using drugs or alcohol, and Unity, supporting young people worried about their own substance use.

A photo of a small group of children sat chatting on a stone wall, looking out at How Hill, with the sunset on the horizon and lush green fields and trees in the background.

Young People's Programmes Summer Updates from Luke, YouCan & Unity Service Manager

YouCan Easter Holidays

Over the Easter holidays, our YouCan service ran two activities. In the first week, we welcomed nine young people to a session with Our Animal World.

They had the opportunity to learn about and handle a variety of animals, including a snake, salamander, chameleon, gerbils, and guinea pigs. Everyone was very brave, and we learned so much about the animals together.

A young person holds a bright green salamander on their hands, while another person holds their hands gently from underneath. The person sits on a read plastic chair, and in the background some black tables are visible.

In the second week, we took ten children and young people on a residential trip to How Hill. We stayed for two nights and packed in a wide range of activities, including den building, owl pellet dissection, orienteering, natural art, clay model making, and even a boat trip on the Broads. In the evenings, we enjoyed plenty of frisbee and board games while watching some beautiful sunsets.

You can find out more about the trip and the impact it had here.

Ketamine Presentations

Our Lead Nurse, Dan, recently spoke at a regional public health conference in Norwich on ketamine and synthetic opioids, organised by the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Partnership (NDAP). He introduced our ketamine information page and QR code sticker.

If you missed the conference, view our presentation and those from other speakers here.

Ketamine: A Young Person’s Story

We have posted a real story from a young person within our service, sharing their experience with ketamine. Their journey highlights how use can develop over time and the impact it can have on wellbeing, relationships, and everyday life.

We support young people at all stages of their journey, offering a safe, non-judgemental space to talk openly and explore the changes they want to make. By sharing this story, we hope to raise awareness and help others recognise when they might benefit from support.

Education Offer

In addition to one-to-one work, our Unity team can deliver targeted sessions to groups of young people and attend events. In April, we attended the MAP Levelling Up event in Great Yarmouth, and three Teen Agency events at Diss High School, Lessingham All Saints, and City Academy to promote the support we offer.

Young people will often turn to a trusted adult first when they have concerns about their drug or alcohol use. Because of this, it is vital that professionals feel confident in having those initial conversations. We can support you by delivering a drug and alcohol awareness session for your team.

In April we delivered two sessions for GPs in Great Yarmouth, as well as a drug and alcohol awareness session for college staff.

Learn more here.

Discover More from our Young People's Teams

We hope you enjoyed our Young People's Programmes summer updates!

Head over to our Young People's Blog here to find out how we're working alongside young people in Norfolk to make an impact in their journey with drug and alcohol use.