DARE (UK) is a national charity (Number:1051418) that delivers life skills and drugs education across the UK. DARE programmes are delivered to young people aged 9 to 16 to help raise their awareness and develop the skills they need to make positive informed choices for a safe and healthy life.

When we talk about drug education it’s important that we are clear about what we mean by the word drug.  Most of us automatically associate ‘drugs’ with illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine.  At DARE our starting point is that we live in a world where drugs are common place; prescription drugs and volatile substances such as aerosols and cleaning fluids, as well as alcohol and tobacco are all harmful if misused.  

The DARE primary programme gives young people in years 5 & 6 the skills and knowledge they need to help them face the many challenges we all face in a drug using world.  The interactive ten-week programme is delivered by DARE officers and teachers and uses a range of learning styles to help them make informed decisions and to develop safe and healthy lifestyles.  Individual activities, teamwork, role play and discussions are used to cover topics including:

• Tobacco
• Bullying
• Anti-social behaviour
• Volatile substances
• Peer pressure
• Cannabis
• Alcohol

The DARE Active programme was created to give young people healthy alternatives to television, games consoles and the computer. The eight-week programme promotes the use of healthy activities to secondary age students both during, and outside the school environment.  The aim is to help them to make a positive contribution to society by developing key life skills including