Drugs education charity DSM Foundation to feature on BBC Radio 4 Appeal

Drug education charity the DSM Foundation is delighted to announce that it will be on the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on Sunday, 3rd November, with the appeal then running for a week. Broadcast times are 7:54am and 9:25pm on that Sunday, and then again at 3:26pm on Thurs, 7th November. It will also be available on the BBC Radio 4 website and on BBC Sounds.

Normally the BBC Radio 4 Appeal is headed by a celebrity, but because the DSM Foundation was founded following the death of 16 year old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs caused by an accidental overdose of ecstasy, his mum Fiona will be the presenter. As the founder and director of the charity, Fiona Spargo-Mabbs OBE is perfectly placed to explain why and how the DSM Foundation delivers drugs education, and the impact that this has on young people and the adults in their lives – we hope you share our anticipation for how this campaign will raise awareness of the issues faced by young people when it comes to drugs, and raise valuable funds to support their safer decision making.

Grace McCormack, DSM Foundation Corporate and Community Fundraiser, commented: “It is a huge privilege for the DSM Foundation to be featured on the BBC Radio 4 Appeal. Not only will it raise awareness of the issues faced by young people when it comes to drugs, but also the work we do to support them to make safer choices, through all aspects of our provision including workshops for students and the adults in their lives, and the play that tells Dan’s story [‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’ by award winning playwright Mark Wheeller]. We are grateful for the opportunity and hope it will raise valuable funds to support the drugs education work we do – and we are so grateful to the generosity of a group of supporters who have agreed to match fund £12,000 of donations that come in this way.”

Find the dates and times for the DSM Foundation’s Radio 4 Appeal by going to https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnc7/broadcasts/upcoming - the charity also has a dedicated webpage on the BBC Radio 4 Appeals website.

Information for editors:

The DSM Foundation is a drug education charity established in 2014 following the death of 16 year old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs from an accidental overdose of ecstasy. His family felt that he simply hadn’t known enough to be able to make decisions that would keep him safe, and realized there was a huge gap in the resources and support available to schools, so set up the charity in order to spare other families going through what they had experienced.

The aim of the DSM Foundation is to provide young people with relevant, age-appropriate, up to date and evidence-based information about drugs so they develop the skills to make choices that will keep themselves and their friends as safe as possible. To this end, the charity is currently working in almost 750 schools, colleges and community organisations with children and young people, and also provides workshops for parents and caregivers, and training for school and college staff – the two groups shown by NHS survey data as the most likely sources of information about drugs and alcohol sought out by 11-15 year olds. Educational settings are also able to access “I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won’t Die”, a verbatim play by Mark Wheeller that was commissioned by the charity to tell Dan’s story in the words of his family and friends, through studying the work itself (sometimes due to it being a GCSE Drama set text on the Eduqas syllabus), or booking a Theatre in Education performance. Schools and colleges can also download age-appropriate, relevant, up to date and evidence-based drugs education lesson resources free of charge from the DSM Foundation website for delivery by teachers through PSHE/PSE provision.

For more information about the DSM Foundation, go to https://www.dsmfoundation.org.uk/.

Media enquiries about this press release or the work of the DSM Foundation should be sent to media@dsmfoundation.org.uk.