Alcohol Help

More than 40 representatives from community groups in Gateshead attended an open day aimed at making more people aware of advice available to help tackle drug and alcohol misuse in the borough.

OASIS (Open Access Substance Misuse Information Service) in High Street, Gateshead, opened its doors to the community last week as part of National Tackling Drugs Week.

Jan Milner, Project Manager with NECA, which runs the OASIS project, said: "As part of National Tackling Drugs Week we decided to open up the centre and give promotion space to other drugs and alcohol agencies within the Safer Gateshead Partnership.

"We invited community groups to drop in and chat to staff about the services available in the area, targeting groups who weren’t familiar with our services with the aim of giving them information in case they come across someone who they feel can benefit from our services and refer them to us.

"We had 40 people attend the event which we were really pleased about and on arrival they were treated to a non-alcoholic cocktail while they learnt about some of services we provide which include counselling, the harm minimisation team, care support groups and the SMART young people’s group.

"All in all we felt it was a very productive day and we got some positive feedback from those who attended."

National Tackling Drugs Week aims to raise awareness of the work being undertaken by agencies such as Drug and Alcohol Action Teams, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, Neighbourhood Policing Teams and Police Forces, to tackle drugs and reduce drug-related crime and to highlight the significant efforts that are being made in communities across the country.

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