New sponsors save drugs charity

A pioneering Nottinghamshire drugs awareness charity which faced serious financial problems has been saved.

Problems began for DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) when it lost its £165,000 annual grant from Nottinghamshire Police.

Managers said the project faced a "bleak future".

But the charity has secured new funding from other sponsors which means the county's 350 schools will all be able to run DARE classes in the autumn.

DARE chairman Richard Goad said: "I'm very pleased that we're now starting to make progress.

"We've reduced our costs and we've introduced a realistic pricing structure for schools which gives them different ways in which they can deliver DARE."

Options now include having teachers to present DARE programmes instead of or as well as police officers.

Nottinghamshire was chosen to be the UK trial area for DARE which began in the US in 1983.

Children undertake an 11-week programme which teaches them life skills based on the problems of substance misuse.