News

A family of resources - it is all about prevention, education and resilience

Scotland is on its way to becoming an ACEs aware nation – being aware is crucial, but what are we doing to help children? 

For the last 12 years we have been developing resources and materials that support work with children, young people and families.  For children with a parent or parents who have alcohol or drug problems, they often don’t understand what is happening or what they can do.

Through the stories of the animal characters, we focus on the core protective factors of social and emotional learning, interpersonal relations, communication and resilience.

The resources have been developed to span across different ages, as well as at different levels – from generally developing resilience across all children, to specifically supporting children who are affected by parental drinking.   They can also be used in a variety of settings including across education, children’s services, family support and treatment services – in both the statutory and third sectors.

About our resources

Pre-schoolers – Oh Lila tells the story of an adventurous young hare called Lila, who gets into bother and then goes through a range of emotions before confiding in her friend Eric, a squirrel.

Primary school aged children – Rory is based on the story of a little dog, which charts the downturn of his life, when his owner Fred, develops problems with alcohol. 

Family intervention - C.H.A.T. (children harmed by alcohol toolkit) provides a toolkit taking the Rory and Lila stories to another level, to be used by practitioners, where a family is affected by someone’s alcohol use.

These approaches are known to be effective in lowering the risk of alcohol and drug use harm later in life and also to help minimise alcohol related harm for children, through developing a range of protective and resilience factors including a range of personal and social skills.

To gain a better understanding of this work, our newsletter explores the development of the resources and our relationship with NHS GGC in partnership working. 

Find out more about our resources and training.