Considerable evidence suggests that young people vulnerable to social exclusion and alcohol misuse have poor educational attainment. A high proportion of young people in local authority care, the youth justice system and those excluded from school have poor literacy skills.

TACADE is leading a project to develop alcohol education materials for use with vulnerable young people, targeting those with poor literacy skills. The materials will be suitable for use with young people aged 11 - 16 of varied abilities in schools, Pupil Referral Units, informal youth settings, by Youth Offending Teams and social services departments. Particular attention will be paid to gender and multicultural issues. The final product will be determined by the needs of the target groups, ascertained through consultation and focus groups.

If you are interested in becoming a pilot for this project, in the first instance you will be provided with a set of questions for practitioners about what they currently use with young people with poor literacy skills and what they would like the alcohol education materials to include. A set of prompt questions for use with young people about what they would like will also be provided. As the resource is developed you will be invited to trial the materials and comment on them. When the new resources are printed, you will receive complimentary copies to use in your school or organisation.