Gore Rotary scholar off to UK to learn about youth drug and alcohol services

Adventure Development drug and alcohol clinician Madeleine Peacock is to visit drug and alcohol programmes in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, as part of a Rotary Club study exchange.

The Rotary scholarship, open to 25 to 40-year-olds, is on offer to people from all professional backgrounds.

Miss Peacock, who lives in Gore, was one of a five-member team which left New Zealand yesterday.

She was the only Eastern Southland team member.

Miss Peacock will spend part of the five-week exchange visiting different youth drug and alcohol services in Birmingham and will accompany the Worchester Police drug team for a day.

Miss Peacock works with young people with drug and alcohol issues under the age of 20.

She was interested to learn what services were available in Birmingham and how they were administered, she said.

Although she thought many of the issues facing agencies in Birmingham would be the same as here, she said there might be some differences and she was keen to pick up ideas which could be implemented when she returned.

"It will be great. It's an amazing opportunity," Miss Peacock said.

One major difference between the way the social services were run was that local bodies took responsibility for them, she said.

Miss Peacock believed the scholarship would help with her professional development, be good for personal development and might give a perspective that would help shape her future career.

Miss Peacock was sponsored by the Gore and Te Anau Rotary clubs, but had applied for the scholarship through the Gore club.

Rotary Club of Gore president Lewis Marshall said a reciprocal programme was run and a team from Birmingham would visit the Gore district next year.

The Gore club was always looking for candidates for scholarships, Mr Marshall said.