Agenda item

To present a report on the work of Young Adder.

The Committee received a presentation on the work of Young Adder from Mr Andy Walker, Young Adder Partnership Manager and Ms Rachael Webb, Lived Experience Lead. They were joined by Hayley, a young person who had experience of accessing the Young Adder service.

Mr Walker explained that the Adder pilot had been funded by the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and would initially run for just over two years, starting in November 2020 and ending in March 2023. Blackpool had been chosen as one of five pilot areas due to the high rate of drug related deaths and drug related crime and was the only pilot area to introduce Young Adder.

He outlined the overarching aims for Young Adder as being a reduction in the rate of drug deaths, the prevalence of drug use and drug related offending in each project location within three years. These targets would be worked towards by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of Streetlife, Blackpool Football Club Trust, the NHS, Adolescent Service and Effective Pedagogy Solutions (EPS) via the provision of a coordinated approach to working with young people with high levels of drug use and those involved with drug related offending.

The Committee was informed that Young Adder worked on a ‘trauma informed model,’ with the wider multi-disciplinary team providing expertise in a range of areas, such as specialist substance misuse support, sexual health, lived experience, meaningful activities, individual employment support, police and probation services. Mr Walker explained that the aim was to take the service to the young person and put them at the centre, thereby enabling them to make informed decisions. Young Adder worked intensively with young people without the need for multiple appointments and in what they considered to be a safe environment. He highlighted that the intention of Young Adder was to build a relationship of trust and that if a young person stopped attending activities or withdrew for a time, their case would not be closed. Once they had been enrolled onto Young Adder and had engaged appropriately, they would remain on roll for the life of the project.

The Committee questioned whether schools could access the Young Adder service and whether contact had been made with schools to raise awareness of the services available to young people. Mr Walker reported that the anticipated launch events had been cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions and that although there was no official lower age limit for Young Adder, he had been advised not to open the activities to those aged 16 years and under as the majority occurred during school hours. On receipt of any such referrals from school aged pupils, Mr Walker advised that they were re-referred into the most appropriate alternative service for the individual.

The Committee sought clarification over future plans for the service once funding ceased in March 2023. Mr Walker reported that Public Health were looking into future funding opportunities and the possibility of other partner agencies contributing financially was also being explored.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the perception of young people being rewarded for anti-social behaviour, Mr Walker noted that the Young Adder team was mindful of the need to carefully balance the delivery of the service against avoiding offering rewards in response to undesirable behaviours and that a large part of the service was focused on highlighting to young people that there was an alternative route to the one they were currently on.

The Committee heard from Hayley as she described her experience of accessing Young Adder and the sense of achievement and increased self confidence she felt from trying new experiences and removing herself from her previous situation. Ms Webb explained that each young person was treated as an individual who worked towards their own specific targets using a personalised approach, enabled by the maintenance of small case numbers.

The Committee extended its thanks to Mr Walker, Ms Webb and Hayley for attending the meeting and providing a valuable insight into the work of Young Adder.

[Mr Walker, Ms Webb and Hayley left the meeting on conclusion of this item.]