Project Launched To Support Kids Affected By Parents Substance Abuse

More is being done to support children in Doncaster whose parents are addicted to alcohol or drugs. The area is well above the national average when it comes to substance misuse and the number of families affected by it. Now a new project, MPACT, has started which works with mums, dads, and their children. Jim Fletcher (Pictured above) from the town's alcohol and drug service, helps to run the sessions where they use games, arts and crafts and group work to help young people open up. He said: "It's about improving communication for the family and giving the children a voice. It's about imrpoving coping skills, as a family will just keep on repeating the same behaviour - be it substance misuse or poor communication. So it helps reduce the negative patterns" People can refer themselves to the programme. Naomi Handley-Ward is from the town's youth service Project Three. She told us anyone can be affected by it: "Some families on the surface are functioning perfectly well and there's substance abuse that nobody is aware off. Others it leaks into every aspect of their lives so their may be unemployment and contact with social care."