A two day Junior Trip Trap organised by multi agency partnership ‘Communities Against Substance Misuse’ attracted more than 280 youngsters aged 10 and 11 years from 32 different schools from all over Meirionnydd.
The event was supported and funded by the Gwynedd Community Safety Partnership, Meirionnydd Community Safety Forum, Tai Clwyd and Barmouth Communities First.
One of the organisers was North Wales Police Neighbourhood Policing Team Manager, Dewi Wynne who said that they were delighted with the number of children who attended the event held in the Dragon Theatre, Barmouth.
He said: This is our third year and it is thanks to the partnership that we are able to carry on organising such important initiatives. On the days I also had great support from my officers and would also like to thank the Coop in Barmouth, who kindly supplied the lunch for everyone.
“”During the days the children took part in various workshops which highlighted the perils of substance misuse. We had sessions from the Youth Justice Service who highlighted the anti social behaviour message while the School Nurses, were looking at health issues.
“School Liaison Officer, Sue Davies and I ran the workshop for drugs and gave the children a number of questions about the various street names for drugs and alcohol. All the answers were in the room and they had to find them.
“There was a performance form members of the ‘Shimli’ theatre company, which showed how using drugs and alcohol does not only affect physical and mental health but also relationships with family and friends.
“We tried to make everything as interesting as possible as it is vital that we catch the children at this age. The preventative work that we do seems to be working well and initiatives like this are so important.
“I don’t know whether similar schemes are held in other areas but it definitely seems to work here,” he said.
Feedback from teachers and children was very good with many saying that it had been a fun way to learn.
Many children vowed never to take drugs or smoke.
