We continue to provide a voluntary service for any groups that are interested. In recent years we have worked with Glasgow Rangers, Celtic, the Kibble education, care centres, primary and secondary schools throughout Scotland.

Thank you to the Robertson Trust and other supporters of our group Calton Athletic was able to establish a full-time project to make a big impact on alcohol & drug prevention work in Scottish Schools. The extent of these problems is now widely recognized with governing bodies, teacher and parent that are concerned but don’t know how to deal with the problem.

The Drugs Awareness Team was created to meet the urgent need for alcohol & drug education and awareness in young people living in a society where underage drinking, solvent abuse and illegal drug use is increasing prevalent.

The team is comprised entirely of alcohol and drug free recovering addicts which give them a strong credibility with young people.

There is much debate about drugs education in schools but no one within the field agrees that fear alone is a useful method of educating youngsters about drugs. So Calton Athletics approach with pupils is not to employ shock horror tactics but to tell it like it is and allow pupils to draw their own conclusions.

There is no moralizing aspect to the message from an authoritarian figure, only honest experience from a believable source.

Over the 1996/97 school year the Drug awareness Team questioned 10,302 young people from primary and secondary schools throughout Scotland. The findings of these surveys provided statistics that left no doubt of the scale of drug use in school children but also supported the ethos of the team.

The most revealing of the findings include:

38% said they had used illegal drugs.

35% of those who had tried drugs admitted to using them in School.

26% said that they were 13 when first offered drugs.

93% said they had drunk alcohol.

Those surveyed were made up of 52% Male 48% Female.

Feedback from Schoolchildren, Parents and Teachers....

Glasgow 11 year old: I think taking drugs are the worst thing in the world because you would lose your family

Glasgow 17 year old: I would listen more to ex-addicts because they tell the truth and have been there themselves.

Glasgow trainee teacher: All the talks had a real impact on me and really opened my eyes.

Glasgow parent: All schools should be able to hear these workshops on a regular basis.

Glasgow teacher: Nothing beats real life experience. The speakers were excellent.

89% said that their drugs awareness had increased.

88% felt that recovering drug addicts were the best people to educate them about drugs.

59% said that the team's workshops should start at Primary 6 level.

96% now realise how easy it is to get addicted to drugs.

96% felt that the Drug Awareness Team was very useful and informative.

“I would like to express gratitude to the hundreds of head teachers who were courageous enough to invite Calton Athletic’s Drug Awareness Team to their schools, enabling us to speak to 80,000 young people across Scotland. A special thank you to the recovering drug-addicts who made these presentations.”

David Bryce