SCHOOL children in South Lakeland have been learning about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

The Rising Sun Trust, a charity committed to educating young people about the dangers of drink and drugs, ran a four-week programme at Queen Katherine School, in Kendal.

The programme involved former drug users speaking to pupils about the effects that substance abuse had on their lives. This was followed up by visits by the police and ambulance service represent-atives, who spoke of the consequences alcohol or drug abuse could have with the law and their health.

Finally Dave Smith, founder of the Rising Sun Trust, whose own son died as a result of drug abuse, went to the school to talk about that implications substance abuse can have on the friends and families of the abusers.

“I was the father of a drug user who died and I tell young people what the effects of drugs do to people around them,” said Mr Smith. “It is a really powerful message that gets across and it’s working really well, I think.”

Mr Smith said drug and alcohol abuse was a significant and growing problem across Cumbria.