U-Turn is a peer education service delivered across Glasgow City, East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire.
The service supports young people aged 12-25 to become volunteer Peer Educators. Through one-to-one support and group activity sessions, participants build confidence, resilience and leadership skills while helping their peers make healthier choices around alcohol and drugs.
U-Turn also provides free workshops for young people on substance use. Each session lasts around up to 2 hours and is designed to boost knowledge and promote safer choices. Themes include alcohol and drug awareness, and spiking awareness.
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Peer Education is about young people supporting other young people. With the right training and guidance, Peer Educators:
Design and deliver workshops and campaigns on alcohol and drugs
Promote harm reduction and early intervention
Tackle stigma and share knowledge drawn from their own experiences
Inspire change within their communities
Our service is co-designed by the Peer Educators with the guidance and support of highly experienced staff.
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You could join U-Turn if you are:
12–25 years old
Living in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire or South Lanarkshire
Interested in volunteering your time to support and educate others
This opportunity is especially valuable if you:
Have some personal or family experience with alcohol or drugs
Are curious about harm reduction and awareness
Are not currently in education, training or employment and want to build new skills
Our Workshops
We offer free peer-led harm reduction workshops for young people to increase their knowledge and understanding of substances. Our workshops are designed by the Peer Educators. Click on a workshop to find out more information.
Alcohol Awareness
Understand the impact Alcohol Related Harms have on your local community
Describe ‘safer’ drinking limits in an adult
Have an understanding of the impact alcohol has on the body
Give examples on how to protect themselves, or friends, when under influence of alcohol
Know where to get further support and information for alcohol if required.
Drug Awareness
Identify different types of drugs
Understand the short-term and long-term risks of drugs
Know the law concerning drugs
Understand peer pressure
Give examples of how to protect themselves, or friends, who may consuming drugs
Know where to get support and information for drugs, if needed.
Cannabis Awareness
Increase knowledge about cannabis use and the effect it has on the body.
Understand the short and long-term effects of cannabis use.
Increase awareness about cannabis and the law.
Understand how cannabis can increase risk taking behaviours.
Give examples of how to protect themselves, or friends, who may be using cannabis.
Know where to get support and information for drugs, if needed.
Spiking Awareness
Explain what spiking is, including spiking by injection
Spot the signs of someone having been spiked
How prevalent the issue is within Scotland
What the law says
How to reduce your risk of being spiked
How you can get support
Our Impact
“The staff were there to support. So if you were to ever get off-track they were there to bring us back on to it. So we were mostly in charge but the staff were there to keep us on track and support us. They helped us with their skills and experience to help us deliver… There were session plans but we had the choice to change it around and make it the way we wanted to deliver it. So that if we were going to have discussions, group work, making it practical, visual presentation, all of that, they gave us that freedom to change it around but still stick to the structure of the topic as well”.
Peer Educator
“Things were really difficult here in terms of youth antisocial behaviour and disorder. That’s one of the reasons we brought U-Turn in. The team contributed to a complete 180 on this. We worked with the young people both within a school context and a community context. We have seen a massive reduction in the crime rate. It was all relationship driven, never consequential action, it was all about relationship. U-Turn challenged the partners to take ownership of what they were saying but not necessarily doing and it resonated with them and we all set about establishing relationships with the young people. They impacted quite significantly in that setting”.
Stakeholder
“U-Turn has been a massive part of my life. I’ve developed so many skills. Before U-Turn I would rarely talk to people. I would rarely go out of my comfort zone. I would pretty much never talk to people I didn’t know. Since working with U-Turn I’ve been able to communicate with random people, like at stalls, ask them questions”.
Peer Educator
“U-Turn helped turn their lives around. These were young people who weren’t sleeping at night, they were depressed, they had anxiety and they were scared to go out their own bubble. They built positive relationships up with the workers and with each other. It helped build them up so they are ready to go out into the big scary world that they face”.
U-Turn consultee
Ready to make a difference?
If you’re a young person interested in becoming a Peer Educator - or you want to refer someone who could benefit - we’d love to hear from you.
Our Service Funders
