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"I was 15 when I was referred to the Matthew Project by the safeguarding lead at my school. I needed help to stop smoking cannabis. I'd been smoking for a couple of years and couldn’t do it on my own.   I live with my Mum. She and Dad split up. They were always arguing when they were together. I didn't like it. The memories of shouting and the fact that it didn’t leave much time for me was one of the reasons I started smoking. I felt like cutting and I did sometimes. I was getting bad marks at school, I didn’t want to go, I felt that school was the last place I wanted to be. Cannabis use was affecting my mental health, and I felt anxious and struggled to sleep.  I first smoked cannabis after school. Most of my friends had tried it. Then I would hang out with older mates, and sometimes we smoked at my home. It was hard to say no when they asked. My mum felt helpless to do anything. There was concern about county lines involvement. Then I became at risk of being excluded from school for inappropriate behaviour and no attendance. That's when I asked for help.  The first session with The Matthew Project was about them getting to know me and introducing me to the service. Building a trusting relationship is an important part of their initial work as young people can often feel uncomfortable sharing details about themselves with a professional, they just met.   They asked lots of questions to build a better picture of my life which helped them to create a support plan with me. We wrote down the goals that I wanted to achieve and what would help to get me there. My priorities were to cut down on substance use, improve my mental health, get support with my education, and improve my friend and family relationships. The process wasn’t too formal which put me at ease.   Me and my worker focused on improving my eating habits and sleeping pattern. I started exercising daily for 20 mins, came off my phone before bed and kept my room tidy. I started to feel less tired in the mornings...  Then my worker helped me get back into football which was great because I stopped wanting to smoke so much and I got my appetite back!   After checking with me, my worker also had a chat with my mum as I was worried about telling the older mates that they couldn't come to my house to smoke. It helped her understand how to help me and we have a much better relationship now.  Me and my mum found Unity service really helpful. I think not only did it help with my cannabis use but also with my anxiety and low mood... and it's kept me at school, so I stand a better chance of getting my GCSE's!  I have cut down on my usage massively, although I still smoke sometimes. Unity have kept my case open so I can continue with the support when I need it, which is really reassuring to know. Big thanks to everyone from The Matthew Project that helped me." Do you feel like your worried that your own drug/alcohol use is having a significant impact on you or others around you? If so, click on the button below to see how we can help.

"Ever since I was young my dad always suffered with a drinking issue. It’s not until I got older that I realised it was also affecting my life. His drinking became worse when I joined sixth form, which is when it began affecting my day to day life. I was turning up to school exhausted, not just physically but emotionally. This was having an effect on my school work and learning. I knew it was no longer something I could handle on my own and I had to talk to somebody, but I didn’t know who to reach out to. I spoke to my school and shortly they got me in contact with The Matthew Project. I felt very nervous to talk to somebody at the Matthew Project as I was always very apprehensive to tell people about my home life due to fear of judgement. However, as soon as I met Sharon I felt instantly put at ease and she felt like a friend that I could talk to about anything. Sharon helped me to cope with the issues not only going on at home but also the stresses of sixth form. Even when I didn’t want to talk about what was going on at home, she would always listen to anything I had to say and would always give me positive advice. Throughout my 2 years with Sharon I have managed to cope with my dad’s drinking so much better and he is now receiving help and has quit drinking. I finished sixth form and now I’m at university and I don’t think I would’ve reached this point if I hadn’t received help. I am so grateful for the Matthew Project but specifically for Sharon who always helped me over every hurdle I came across" Do you feel like your worried about a family members drug/alcohol use? If so click the button below to find out more on how we can help support you.

About Us Who are we? We are the young people service at The Matthew Project. We empower young people to overcome issues with drugs, alcohol, unemployment and mental health. We do this because we are passionate about supporting young people to flourish. We know it can be difficult to meet someone new for the first time, especially if you are meeting them to get help, so here are some pictures of our staff doing different activities so you can get to know us a bit before you meet us.

Frequently Asked Questions How do I get support for someone I know/myself? Anyone can get in touch with us to make a referral. This could be a parent, carer or professional or you. If you want to refer yourself or someone you know, you can do this by going to our contact us page to chat with a member of the team in the most accessible way for you. What happens when I get referred? We will contact you, or the person referring you and arrange to come and meet, in a place you feel comfortable. What happens if I change my mind? Just let us, or the person who referred you know. Our support is totally voluntary. We understand that people change their minds. You are always welcome to come back. Will you tell other people what I have said? We offer a confidential service. Confidentiality means us not telling anyone else about the things you tell us, we will talk to you about who you are comfortable with us talking to. Sometimes your parents, carers or teachers may be aware that you have been referred to us, particularly if you chose to see us at your school or home, this does not mean we will tell them everything that you tell us, we will discuss this with you and agree what information YOU feel comfortable sharing. If there’s a risk of very serious harm to you, or someone else, we may need to share some of what you have told us, we will try and talk to you and let you know what might happen next. Will you tell me to stop using drugs/alcohol? No we understand this is your choice and people use substances for a variety of reasons. We are not here to judge you, or tell you what to do, we will support you to decide what you want from the support. Do you have to tell my parents that I am working with you? If you are over 13 and we feel you understand what it means to get support from us, we do not need to tell your parents that we are supporting you. If you are under 13, we do need to get consent from your parent or carer to be able to offer you support. This doesn’t mean we will tell them what we talk about with you. Will I get into trouble? We will not share the information you tell us unless we are extremely worried for your safety, our aim would be to keep you safe not for you to get into trouble. How long can you work with people? For the YouCan and Unity service. Our support is not time limited we can continue to support you for as long as you feel you need the support. We can see you weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, depending on what works best for you. For On Track, there are sometimes time limits depending on the service. Contact On Track's for more details. Is there a waiting list? We do have at times a waiting list but we will be in contact within 2 weeks and will always keep you updated of when a meeting will be booked. Can I see you in school? Yes we can come and meet you in a place you feel comfortable this could be at home, school, college, wherever you feel comfortable. Can I talk to you about other stuff? Yes we understand that drug or alcohol issues can be one of the issues you are facing, we will complete an assessment with you that will look at what other support may be useful, this could include mental and physical health, housing, education and relationship advice. Will there be a change in worker? We try not to change your worker, we know it can be difficult when one of our workers leave, if we have to change you to a new worker, we will ask you what kind of person you would feel most comfortable with and try and match you with one of our workers. Can I bring someone with me? Yes we understand it can be a big step meeting someone new. My parents/carers don't drive, how do I get to you? We come to you! We can meet you in a location you feel comfortable such as school and for our holiday activities we can arrange transport so you can attend.

Have Your Say Your voice counts! We want to know what you think. Your ideas help us make our services more visible and better for young people like you. Here is a video about how you can get involved: We involve the young people we work with, in the development of our service, we value your thoughts, ideas, and feedback about your experience of our service. We would like you to have a say in how we develop and deliver the service. We know at times you can have a negative experience of services and not feel like you have been listened to, we want to know we are getting it right, or how we can improve. Please let your worker know if there is anything you would like to feedback or contact us via our Live Chat or Anonymous Feedback Form. Anonymous Feedback Send Thanks for submitting! Interview Panels At all interviews for new staff members, we have a panel of young people from our service to help us decide to employ. You can find out about these opportunities through your worker. Snapshop Survey Throughout the year, you will have the opportunity to give your thoughts about different topics in a short survey completed with support from your worker. Advisory Groups The advisory groups meet to develop new resources or review different aspects of our service and other Norfolk projects in order to make improvements.