Not My Child, a campaign to stop more youngsters dying or being injured through drugs, is being launched by the mother of tragic teenager Leah Heyes in partnership with police commissioner Zoe Metcalfe.

The campaign urges parents and carers to have vital conversations with children to give them the information needed to stop them coming to harm.

Leah Heyes, from Northallerton, was 15 when she took two ‘bombs’, powder forms of ecstasy, also known as MDMA, which within hours had killed her.

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Leah’s mum Kerry is joining forces with North Yorkshire Police Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe to launch the month-long campaign.

Kerry said she wanted to help other parents to have proactive and positive conversations with their children about drugs and alcohol. The NotMyChild website is at www.notmychild.info.

“For years we have been telling our children to ‘just say no’ to drugs, and in an ideal world maybe that would be enough, but the world is complicated, growing up is hard, and young people are probably going to take risks, so as parents we need to be having different conversations with them,” said Kerry.

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“On the day Leah died, she wouldn’t have understood that the drugs she took would seriously harm her, let alone end her life. Although I had the ‘drugs talk’ with her, we didn’t talk about all of the things that are in the NotMyChild campaign.

“Because we can’t be with our children all the time, I would encourage all parents, guardians and care givers to talk calmly with their own teenagers, before anything goes wrong, and to support them to understand the risks associated with different types of drugs, so that they have the facts that they need, to set their own boundaries and to make their own safe choices."

Ms Metcalfe said: “As a parent myself, I am inspired by Kerry’s determination to bring something so positive and inspirational out of Leah’s tragic death, and I fully support her in helping parents and children to have those important and often difficult conversations.

“The NotMyChild website could almost be read from top to tail whilst waiting at the checkout in the supermarket. That’s its strength, it’s a catalyst to give parents, guardians and care givers the inspiration and ideas to get the conversation started. We aren’t the experts and we know that all family relationships are different so www.NotMyChild.info is the springboard to professional and trusted advice.

“If you care for a child, please take a few minutes out of your day to read the information that we have produced based on Kerry’s experience to help you 'be informed, be aware, and be proactive' in having conversations at home.”

The commissioner is also writing to secondary school headteachers across North Yorkshire and the City of York, asking them to share a joint letter which encourages parents, guardians and care givers to start positive conversations with their children, early on, about drugs, alcohol and other substances.

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