Healthwatch at the 'We Are With You' Drug And Alcohol Session
Healthwatch took a trip to the newly opened family hub at Meadows today, to visit We Are With You and their session on drugs and alcohol. Ignoring the mild weather and wanting an excuse to show off their freshly minted ID badges, Charlie, George and Lee set off to go attend - hitting their reception. Then, putting up a few posters and leaving a big pile of flyers on the front desk. Continuing on, they met the lovely Ryan from WAWY who was running the event. A quick tour of the family hub later, and the event had started.
We Are With You are a nation wide, but also pretty local, drug, alcohol and mental health support charity. They provide all sorts of services to those with (specific for this event) addiction problems, like a needle exchange, or help for those with addiction problems in prison - or even just general guidance. Their services are able to be referred to others if it's not you with the problem, and support those of all ages. They have a specific youth team - a smaller team than their main, but still enough to provide support. The event was ran by a member of the youth team. Ryan and our Healthwatch team who attended sat for about an hour, discussing drugs, alcohol, how they trend through the ages and how it all can affect you - then what WAWY do to help.
We Are With You take a supportive angle in their - well, their support. Shockingly, the name rings true, They are with you. Whether you want to stop, full stop, or take down your intake, or not even stop, WAWY will help. Even if all you want is advice, they are there. Like they were at the Meadows today, trying to take preventative action against addiction by teaching people about the effects and dangers of various drugs. From cannabis, to cocaine, to meth to poppers - they knew about it all. Pictured above, they had a brilliant little set of dioramas all with info about the shown drugs. Names, effects, long term affects and symptoms of usage. The discussions they had were all quite informative too. Overall, a useful, worthwhile event. Keep your eyes and ears open, because when they next host one, it will be very much worth attending. Even if you consider yourself an expert on substance, trust us, WAWY can teach you something - and all for free.
