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Life Skills Education Charity

Life skills programmes target pupils aged 10 to 16 years old. Using the D.A.R.E decision making model in everyday situations we educate young people to think about their choices. Our programmes have been independently evaluated and proven to improve communication, knowledge about the health effects of tobacco and alcohol as well as dealing with stress, peer pressure and bullying.

lifeskills-education.co.uk Fundraise for us
info@lifeskills-education.co.uk

0300 111 3273

Registered charity no. 1172680

Member since February 2018

About us

We are a registered charity in England and Wales that has been developing and delivering our drug and life skills education resources for 21 years. Our programmes are put together using evidence from research and follow government guidelines and best practice.

Results from a recent evaluation by Nottingham University showed that as a result of going through our primary programme young people are better at:

  • Communication and listening - Young people who had a Life Skills Education intervention were 3.4 times more advanced than the control group.

  • Getting help from others - Young people that undergo our programmes are 5.4 times more likely to seek help from other people.

  • Making safe & responsible choices - Young people that have taken a D.A.R.E. programme are twice as likely to make safe and responsible choices

  • Knowledge around substances - Young people were 2.4 times more knowledgeable about drugs, alcohol and substance use/abuse.

Not only did that independent study show that our programmes are effective on all major outcomes, teachers have rated them ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ against the Mentor ADEPIS Quality Standards. Parent feedback shows that children develop new skills and knowledge as a result of our courses.

Life Skills Education programmes are run in almost 300 schools and delivered to almost 10,000 young people per year. Since the very first course in the UK in 1995 over 366,000 young people have been through one of our courses.

That said, D.A.R.E. programmes are delivered by different organisations in 52 different countries around the world. All use the D.A.R.E. decision making model but each is developed specifically for the country in which it is used. We developed ours in conjunction with the original writers at Penn State University to ensure that we continue to benefit from the research that underpins the programme.

All of our courses revolve around the DARE Decision Making Model (DDMM). This is a unique framework that helps young people to make informed, balanced choices by Defining the issue, Assessing their options and possible consequences, Responding by making an informed decision and Evaluating their response.

The DDMM is a golden thread throughout our programmes which cover topics around alcohol, tobacco, new psychoactive substances, cannabis, solvents and knife crime which can be delivered by our fully trained DARE Officers.