Five Lives

We had our second visit to Torquay Academy yesterday to talk to Year 9 students about drugs and alcohol, but it was the first time Dave and Mark joined us to share their stories, so there was a lot for the students to think about. Debbie Knowles, one of the Health & Social Care teachers said," I know the pupils got so much from it."
Thank you to all the staff for their support and making us feel welcome. We hope to be back soon!

We went to Mount Kelly for the first time last week to speak to their sixth form students, and we had some very thought provoking discussions about drug and alcohol addiction. One of the students said,"I really appreciated their honesty and willingness to share such experiences."
Maddy Carr, Head of PSHE said, " Many of our students commented on how inspirational and impactful they found the sessions. I would wholeheartedly recommend Five Lives to any other school." Thank you to Maddy and all the staff for organising everything and making us feel so welcome. We hope to be back soon.

It was so nice to be back at The King's School this week talking to Year 11s and sharing our stories. We had some very thought provoking discussions about addiction and how to cope with the stresses of life. Thank you to Jo Elliott and all the staff for making us feel so welcome as always.

It is with great sadness that I write about the death of John Clarke. This is a massive loss for us, the schools he worked in and the hundreds of students he talked to. He wanted to turn his life into something positive and by using his story to educate students about the dangers of drugs, he absolutely did that. He had a natural ability to connect with young people and many turned away from experimenting with drugs after meeting him.

These comments from teachers at The King's School, a school John visited many times, show the high regard he was held in and the impact he made.

"He was one of the most humble and profound speakers I have ever had the pleasure to meet in all my years of teaching. He was honest and raw and unapologetic."

"It is rare that you find guest speakers who can hold the attention of young people in the palm of their hand, and John was one of them. What a devastating loss."

"One of the most powerful and upfront speakers we have ever had the pleasure of hosting. He had a huge impact on young people."

Some of the students at The King's School said this:

"By far the best anti-drugs session I have ever witnessed."

"He made a difference to how I thought about drugs. He was brilliant. He made us all think."

"I vividly remember John's visit and the immediate impact his story had on me. He was a real inspiration to me at low points in my life and I am extremely sad to hear of his passing."

We have just done another successful visit to Clyst Vale Community College. This is our 4th year of running workshops in this school and before we left we received many letters and notes of thanks from the students. I think the one that summed it up was this, "I know plenty of friends that have smoked w**d and drunk alcohol excessively, but these talks have really made me think twice about doing it as well."
Thank you to Nicola Bennett and all the wonderful staff who have supported and encouraged us over the years.
Allen Bailey, Associate Principal said," This is one of the best things we do. We are greatly enriched by having Five Lives here today. We believe in educating the whole person. Nothing does that better than the compelling testimony of other human beings."

We had a fantastic day at St James School on Friday, talking to Health and Social Care students. Melissa and John were helping them to understand how addiction can affect people and what support is in place for them. Steffi Morby, Lead teacher for H&SC said,"Using Five Lives has been truly motivational for my students." Thank you for that wonderful comment Steffi. We hope to be back next year.

"These workshops are an incredible way to affect change in the next generation." Powerful words from Lisa Whitworth, Head of PSHE at Sidmouth College. You can pay a lot of money for drugs and alcohol education from professional experts. But the students that we spoke to at Sidmouth College last week all said that listening to John and Melissa's stories had had much more of an impact than anything else. Thank you John and Melissa for talking so openly and honestly about your lives and helping to educate the next generation.

We had a very successful visit to St Luke's Science and Sports College in Exeter last week, talking to Year 10 students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. In a questionnaire they completed afterwards, 98% said that they would recommend Five Lives to other schools, which is a great endorsement of the work we do.
97% also said that they were now much more aware of the dangers of alcohol and 89% felt that they were now much less likely to experiment with drugs. I think these figures show that we are making an impact. Thank you to Ali and John for delivering such thought provoking sessions and to Hannah Talbot for organising it all.

"Five Lives was an intimate insight into the life of a drug addict. There was no person in the room who was prepared, after listening to their stories, to even consider doing drugs." Wonderful feedback from a Year 12 student at Clyst Vale Community College where we were this week. And a big thank you to Nicola Bennett for organising the session and making us feel so welcome.

John and Vince had a very successful visit to Dawlish Community College this week. They talked openly about their lives and the challenges they have faced in order to help Year 9 and 10 students understand more about the very real dangers of drugs. Thank you to Dan Osborne for organising it all and making us feel so welcome. We hope to be back soon.

This is our new video about self-harm, made by our talented photographer Kyle Baker. Please watch and share.

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