The official launch of a new mobile drug education centre, which will provide information to children in Staffordshire, has been held at the offices of the Tamworth Herald.

The mobile Life Education Centre – the second in Staffordshire – has been purchased as a result of a two-year campaign backed by the Herald.

The campaign, to raise £60,000 for the new mobile drug and health education van for Tamworth, Lichfield and Burton, was launched in May 1999 by South East Staffordshire Life Education Group.

The new van will begin its work in schools this month, using multimedia techniques to teach primary school children how to deal with drugs, alcohol, stress and peer pressure.

It includes twinkling ‘stars’ on the ceiling, videos and light up displays of different parts of the body.

The existing van has visited 65 schools every year since its launch in 1998 and taught more than 14,000 children.

Herald editor Sam Holliday who joined the launch praised everyone who had helped to make the dream of a second van in the area a reality.

He said: “The committee – including the Herald’s own deputy editor Phil Shanahan – worked very hard to raise the cash for this vital new mobile classroom.

“It is quite literally a life saving aid and will greatly help many, many children from Tamworth and south east Staffordshire. Everyone involved deserves our heartfelt thanks.”

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