On Friday coming, the 22nd of November 2013, we will be taking part in a gathering of local community groups from the area, which is aimed at creating better methods of drug addiction prevention, through dialogue between the groups, and through the sharing of ideas.
The annual event is run by the South Inner City Local Drugs Task Force (SICLDTF), and the major local community organisations will all have a stand, which is to be manned by members of their teams. You can see the design for our stand on the left of this page. It highlights some of the many services we provide, for all age groups, within the Dublin 8 locality.
The event itself is quite a clever way for local activists to come together and trade ideas and services. Members of each organisation can walk around the venue, the Donore Avenue Youth and Community Centre, and see what drug prevention programs, and new innovative methods of drug prevention, each respective group is utilising. They can also trade services. For example, if one group had a service user who they felt they needed to get into a certain area of employment, and another group could facilitate this, then that could be done on the day.
We at the Fountain Resource Group utilise various specific drug prevention techniques, particularly within our youth services, including last years Reel Youth Film – The Choice – which focused the group on telling a story about how choices can impact a young persons life. This was an eye-opening experience for some members, because it also gave them great confidence, which they found extremely useful when making those kinds of decisions.
Our Fountain Youth Project also liaises closely with the Gardai for the innovative ‘Copping On’ programme, which highlights the dangers and consequences of drug use, and it features an award for those who complete the programme. We also provide a Counselling service for family members who are dealing with addiction, who need advice about drug prevention, or any other addiction-related matter.
These South Inner City Local Drugs Task Force drug prevention expo’s are growing in stature year-on-year, and this year’s event is expected to be extremely engaging, with some exciting new ways to aid drug prevention within our communities coming to the fore.
We will review the event next week, and pass on any interesting information we garner.
IMAGE: our stand for Drug Task Force Expo – image credit: Damien Hughes/FRG.ie
[…] one final note; with us attending the South Inner City Local Drugs Task Force’s (SICLDTF) Drug Prevention Expo in Donore Avenue Community Centre on Friday, we really felt that this was the most appropriate time to begin publishing this series […]