Read our latest TCA newsletter (opens in pdf format).
We are pleased to announce the launch of Need Tay Know, a sexual health information app for young people in Tayside. The app is available on App Store and Google Play and you can access it via the following links:
• iPhone v1.0.1 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/needtayknow/id567715876?mt=8
• Android phone v1.0.1 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.faffdigital.NeedTayKnow
• iPad v1.0.0 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/needtayknow-tablet/id596763205?mt=8
• Android tablet v1.0.0 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.faffdigital.NeedTayKnowTablet
Posted: Mon 18 Feb
The Women Only Mentoring group (16+) is a support group that offers practical and emotional support on a wide range of issues relating to offending behaviours, mental health, drugs and alcohol etc. The WO Mentoring group provides a vital role in helping women avoid breaching court orders and addressing some of the practical issues facing women who have been involved in the Criminal Justice service.
The women are keen to expand the group for other women who are involved with the CJS/Court system to provide emotional and practical assistance to access services and improve life circumstances The WO Mentoring group meet weekly at TCA The Wishart every Thursday.
The WO Mentoring group have just been awarded £200 from Dundee city Council group ‘Starz in thur Ehz’. TCA and the Women Only Mentoring group would like to thank ‘Starz in thur ehz’ for this as it is the first funding the group have received.
Thank you!
Posted: 06/09/12Mentor training will begin in October 2012. Training will include;
• The role of the mentor and stages in mentoring
• Drugs and Alcohol in Tayside
• Child protection/Confidentiality
• Boundaries /personal safety
• Groupwork/ Meet some Mentors
• Interview with young people
Check back soon for dates and times.
Posted: 06/08/12 (Edited 06.09.12)
Link Up, Right Track and Women Only Mentoring have successfully been externally assessed and have been accepted to receive the Scottish Mentoring Network Quality award with immediate effect.
Congratulations are due to all involved in these services.
The Scottish Mentoring Network recognised the value in member projects being able to work towards and achieve a Quality Standard and therefore decided to develop a standard that specifically relates to mentoring projects operating in Scotland.
A mentoring project’s decision to apply for quality standard demonstrates a commitment to delivering a service which focuses on the expectations and requirements of all its stakeholders.
Achievement of the quality award is confirmation that the project is applying recognised good practice to all aspects of its work. Consequently every stakeholder can have the confidence that their involvement in the project will be managed professionally and to a level validated by Scottish Mentoring Network.
We are looking for people who can listen and understand to train as volunteer alcohol counsellors for our adult service.
No prior knowledge or qualifications are required as you will be provided with full training which can lead to accreditation. We require a commitment of 3-4 hours per week after training.
Click Here for more info
Volunteer Mentors for Link-UP and Group Mentors for Kith 'n' Kin WANTED!
Training will take place in May/June 2012. More info Here
Posted: 19/04/12TCA are very happy to have recently joined the Virgin Money Giving scheme.
Virgin Money Giving gives you total freedom in your giving. You choose when, how much, and how often you would like to donate. It's very straight forward - You can make a single or regular donation by clicking on one of the Virgin Money Giving logos.
Virgin Money Giving is a not-for-profit organisation and if you are a tax-payer, we can claim Gift Aid on your donation.
We are grateful for every penny that you donate or raise through events.
All we do is say thank you for your contribution.
TCA Angus Connect were invited to deliver alcohol workshops with support from the Arbroath Academy pupils council. We met with the council on several occasions to discuss the content of the workshops before agreeing a programme. The event was a great success with all 1st year pupils attending.
The Angus Right Track group, who meet on a fortnightly basis, played a friendly football match with Tayside Police on Tuesday in Dundee. Both police and group thoroughly enjoyed the game and have agreed to play again later this year.
Posted: 22/02/12Some of the TCA volunteer mentors offer an insight into their experiences working with young people and TCA.
"Not only does a mentor get the chance to encourage and inform through their own experiences, they can also learn from the young person and remind themselves of how teenagers perceive today's world. Being a mentor has broadened my mind and made me more tolerant, which can only be a plus!"
• I now know how to go through a "drive Thru"
• He automatically puts on his seat belt without being asked
• I know how much "designer" trainers cost
• He has discovered his tooth brush
• I love answering his questions he knows he can ask me anything.
• Been a joy to watch him mature
• He tolerates being seen with an "auld wifey"
• Still can't get him to eat fruit
• Can operate a self serve till in the supermarket
"I really enjoyed the whole experience. The people are lovely (that's staff and other mentors). It was nice that all the training was done close together. I've been to others where weeks pass between training and everyone remains awkward and quiet with each other! It was really informative and did challenge what I thought I knew about drugs and alcohol and even my own boundaries. The only negative was time!! We could have gone on and on for hours couldn't we."
"I was happy with the interview process and felt comfortable throughout. It obviously allowed you to gauge if I was suitable or not. I definitely think it's a positive thing having a final interview with young people who have experience in dealing with TCA Mentoring Services. Maybe I timed it right for applying as it all seems to have progressed nice and quickly(compared to my other voluntary work) so all in all positive experience for me."
TCA will be looking to recruit and train more volunteer mentors in 2012. If you're interested and think you have what it takes there's further information about the role of the volunteer mentor HERE.
Posted: 13/01/12
Dundee City East MSP Shona Robison today officially opened the new premises of the Tayside Council for Alcohol at the Wishart in Constable Street. The TCA is one of the leading providers of support to people experiencing alcohol misuse or affected by another’s alcohol misuse across Tayside.
The opening of The Wishart and the co-location of TCA and NHS Tayside Alcohol Problem Service (TAPS) within the premises earlier this year is an important step forward for integrated services across Dundee. The Wishart is the new Headquarters for the TCA and supports their other premises and services in Perth and Kinross and Angus.
Speaking before unveiling a plaque, Shona Robison MSP said: “I am delighted to be back at the Wishart to participate in the Open Day, a chance to meet up again with the staff of the many agencies who collaborate to provide integrated services and advice to tackle the urgent issue of substance misuse.
“The Scottish Government is tackling this issue head-on where previous Governments might have avoided taking action and although we have never said that mimimum pricing is a silver bullet, there is a clear link between price and consumption and we are re-introducing our Alcohol Bill to move things forward.
“Harm caused by alcohol is Scotland’s biggest public health challenge and Tayside Council on Alcohol and Tayside Alcohol Problem Service are key agencies working to tackle this.
“I hope that the Open Day will help to promote greater awareness of the work they do.”
The TCA provides direct support to over 700 adults and young people across Tayside every year who are effected by their own or another’s alcohol misuse. The services range from Adult Counselling and Group Work, to Young People’s Projects.
They recently received a National Award for Social Care and Justice Project of the Year 2011 at the Scottish Mentoring Network National Conference for the Right Track and Women’s only mentoring service designed to give offenders support in the community to help them stop re-offending.
Many thanks to Shona Robison, MSP.
Posted: 30/11/11
Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA) is a local charity with almost 40 years experience of evidenced effective practice supporting clients to over-come adversity.
Scottish Mentoring Network held its annual conference recently in the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow. Over 100 delegates representing almost 60 organisations from across Scotland attended.
The day was topped off by a number of presentations by Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin. Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA) were presented with Social Care and Justice Project of the Year 2011 for Right Track and Women Only mentoring projects.
Sandra White was “humbled and overwhelmed” and said she was “genuinely surprised by the range of mentoring activity supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged service users throughout Scotland”
The aim of these projects are to support young adults and women to comply with the community based disposals they have been sentenced to, thus reducing the risk of them being remanded or sentenced to custody as a result of breaching their orders. Over and above this the mentors work with the range of presenting needs to enable clients to fully address the issues related to their offending, substance use or anti-social behaviour.
Right Track and Women only is a partnership between Tayside Community Justice Authority, Dundee City and Angus Council, Criminal Justice Services and Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA).
Mark Harris, Mentoring Co-ordinator with the TCA said: “In many cases offenders lead such chaotic lives that it should be no surprise to anyone that they breach court orders and end up back in prison. Mentoring works. It’s about the mentor building a relationship with the individual and giving them the stability and support to get their own life back on track. The mentor works closely with the Criminal Justice Worker to ensure that the individual makes their appointments, even by picking them up and taking them there if necessary. Mentoring is part of a range of options that are offered that knit together to bring about positive change for the individuals involved.”
Peter Rice, Chair of the Board, Tayside Council on Alcohol explains: “It’s quite rightly a Government priority to keep women offenders and young people, who should not be there, out of prison. This project helps in achieving this. Both male and female offenders involved in the project often have deep seated substance misuse issues. Mentoring is not an easy option and is not suitable for every offender but where it works it ensures that people are getting access to the right services for their needs.”
The TCA is one of the leading providers of support to people experiencing alcohol misuse or affected by another's alcohol misuse across Tayside. It has been in existence for nearly 40 years.
Posted: 30/11/11The Volunteer Friendly Award is a simple, user-friendly quality standard designed by Volunteer Centre Dundee to support, recognise and reward groups who are good at involving volunteers. Many essential services in Scotland’s communities are enhanced by volunteers. Volunteering also has a
significant social value as it is increasingly being used to give excluded individuals the chance to build their confidence and skills through helping others.
It has never been more important for groups to be able to show how good they are at involving and managing their volunteers.
Well Done TCA!
Posted: 01/11/11
The first ever TCA Boy’s Only Summer Programme went ahead thanks to Community Safety Partnership - COMMUNITY SAFETY FUND
This group of young people were identified as ideal candidates for the boys summer programme. They had all been referred to TCA through Criminal Justice Service, Youth Justice or the Anti Social Behaviour Team. All of the young people had spoken about having nothing to do as most activities had costs or travel implications and they had all spoken about hanging about not really doing anything apart from hanging around with the potential to get into trouble. The group discussed that the purpose of the activities were to avoid getting into anti social incidents and to explore activities towards a more positive lifestyle.
The boys group met together in June to plan a summer programme that kept within the budget allocated by The Community Safety Fund. This session took place as a brainstorming session with access to the internet so we could budget as we went along.
The activities decided on were:
• Go Karting
• Pool/Snooker
• Kayaking
• White water Rafting
• Air Rifle Range
• Segwaying
“The young people of Carnoustie were offered Hair and Make-up Sessions from Susan Clayson as part of the Friday Night Project being run down at the Carnoustie Leisure Centre. The Friday night project was piloted in Carnoustie for a period of four sessions through July, and also involved other organizations including staff from TCA’s Angus office, Scotland Badminton Association, Lorraine from the Support to Families Team and Tayside Fire Brigade”
Click for more on this story.
Posted: 28/09/11
Hi Folks......Just a wee note to highlight a couple of fundraising events TCA staff are getting involved in.
On Friday 16th September I will be making my catwalk debut (yes, you read it correctly!). I will be modelling some posh threads as part of the 'Runway' charity fashion show at Liquid nightclub. The event has been organised by two of the circuit coaches at Curves Gym, and will be raising money for the Maggies Centre here in Dundee.
.....but that's not all....!
On Sunday 11th September Matt Allen and I are joining forces with Joyce Mathers and her friend Evelyn to form Team Twenge! ’Twenge’ [pron: twen-gi] means ‘let’s hit the road!’ in Swahili. We will be completing the Dundee Cyclathon raising money for the Children on Songea Trust. The trust support children living in Tanzania and as many of you will know both Charly and Joyce Mathers have been heavily involved in this for many years. As the Trust employs no staff every penny of every £1 raised goes directly to support the work in Tanzania. If you click on this link it will take you to the charity's web site Children of Songea where you can find out at bit more about the work they do.
I know you will all be supporting us in spirit....if any of you are able to support us in cash too that'd be great! Matt and I will be collecting sponsors over the next couple of weeks, and tickets for the fashion show can either be bought directly from Curves or via me, here at TCA.
Thanks!
Kathryn Baker
These are the final dates and topics of the training sessions for new Link-Up mentors.
• Tuesday 25th October 5.30-7.30pm. Role of the mentor / Stages in mentoring / YP personal profiles
• Wednesday 26th October 5.30-7.30pm. Drugs and Alcohol
• Tuesday 1st November 5.30-7.30pm. Child protection / confidentiality
• Wednesday 2nd November 5.30-7.30pm. Mentoring Boundaries / personal safety
• Tuesday 8th November August 5-7pm. YP interviews
For further information contact Mark Harris, TCA Mentoring Coordinator. mark@alcoholtayside.com Tel. 01382 456012.
Every Friday night during school term time the Saltire Leisure Centre is open to all young people from Primary 7 to 16 year olds. Four TCA Angus Connect staff run the project and they are supported by other volunteers from CLD, NHS, Tayside Police, and Leisure Centre staff.
The Friday Nite Project starts at 6.30pm and ends at 10.30pm. There are a range of activities including; Cheer leading classes, make up and fashion, football, badminton and trampoline to name a few.
We also deliver alcohol and drug workshops and have staff available if anyone wants to have a one to one chat or just to get general information.
The project is hugely popular and successful. Over 130 young people generally attend every Friday.
Posted: 19/08/11
The superstrong alcoholic energy drink fuelling a new generation of louts
Police are warning about a new alcoholic energy drink that is as strong as wine and which they claim is responsible for a wave of anti-social behaviour.
Cans of American-made 'Crunk Juce' are being bought by the crate load by young people in the UK looking for a way to kick-start an evening out.
But police have had growing reports of drinkers of 'Crunk' being involved in criminal incidents or becoming victims of crime themselves.
Inspector Phil Bates, of Southampton Police, said: 'We have suddenly seen Crunk Juce being advertised and coming to our attention over the past month.
'It is clearly becoming popular.
'I do have concerns as I have dealt with incidents from assaults to public disorder, where either the victim or the offender has drunk Crunk.
'It has also been detailed in statements taken by officers policing the city at night.
We have contacted trading standards who will have the product tested to ensure it is compliant and that it is not breaching licensing conditions.
'This is not about stopping people from having a good night out. We just want people to be sensible and safe.'
Source and more at Mail Online.
Posted: 29/07/11
Aberlour Outreach Dundee
Our Dependency Services aim to reduce the adverse impact of problematic substance use and deprivation experienced by children, young people and their families.
P/T CHILDREN’S WORKER
£19,285 - £20,776 per annum pro rata
Kith and Kin is an innovative partnership project between Tayside
Council on Alcohol and Aberlour Child Care Trust which works to support
kinship carers and the children and young people they care for in
Dundee City.
You will work with families in the community and implement programmes of care in accordance with the aims and objectives of the project. You will work alongside the Resource Worker and the managers of the project to ensure the effective implementation of the integrated therapeutic support service for children and their families through the delivery of a range of group and individual interventions.
You should have experience of working with vulnerable families and a sound understanding of the issues for children and young people affected by parental substance misuse.
You will have a relevant professional qualification at SCQF Level 6 or equivalent knowledge.
This post is 35 hours per week and is offered on a fixed term basis for 3 years in the first instance.
For an information pack and application form please go to our website www.aberlour.org.uk where you can apply on-line or print the information. If you have any queries please e-mail: jobs@aberlour.org.uk. Applications are welcome from minority groups. As a child care organisation we follow a rigorous selection procedure, including PVG/Disclosure Scotland checks.
Applications to be returned by Friday, 5th August 2011
A Scottish Guarantee Company No. SC 312912 Scottish Charity No. SC 007991
Posted: 25/07/11
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