The father of the late singer Amy Winehouse officially opened a new anti-drugs and alcohol programme initiative for secondary schools in Brent today.

Brent & Kilburn Times: snapshotsnapshot (Image: Archant)

Mitch Winehouse, of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, has teamed up with substance rehabilitation charity Addaction, and town hall bosses to help educate borough youngsters, parents and teacher on the effects of substance abuse.

The singer-songwriter whose hits include ‘Valerie’ and ‘Rehab’ died in 2011, following her highly documented struggle with alcohol and drugs addiction.

Mr Winehouse said: “It is difficult because it’s bitter sweet because obviously we wish Amy was here but she is not so we have to make the best of a bad job.”

“Parents are part of the programme; sometimes they can be apathetic. What try and give parents the skills to have an intelligent conversation with their children which is something I didn’t do. My idea was to scream and shout and pretend I was having heart attacks all the time but that does not always work.”

“There is nothing like our programme in the UK. It is not about educating the kids into the dangers of not only drugs and alcohol but legal highs but it is about reintegrating people who have struggled for a number of years.

He continued: “All kids are going to have a drink now and again. There is no point of us saying don’t drink, or don’t smoke. But it’s about informing them of the real danger of substance abuse.”

The scheme dubbed ‘resilience’ will be launched in borough secondary schools from September.

Councillor Krupesh Hirani, lead member for health and well-being said: “We hope that both students and parents can learn from this programme and that we can make a real impact into educating our youngsters about drug and alcohol misuse”

For more information, visit: http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/resilience-programme-for-schools