Cllr Simpson’s Mayoress Marcella Puppini (centre) performing at the Town Hall with The Puppini Sisters

Published: 16 May, 2013
by RICHARD OSLEY

RECOVERING drug addicts are to be sent in to speak directly to pupils and parents at Camden schools by the charity foundation set up in Amy Winehouse’s name.

The project – a response to fears that there is an almost complete absence of any coherent attempt to educate children inside secondary schools about the dangers of drink and drugs – will be promoted by new Camden Mayor Jonathan Simpson, who has decided to link his work as the borough’s first citizen over the next 12 months with the high-profile Amy Winehouse Foundation.

He was confirmed in his new role at the annual mayor-making ceremony at the Town Hall last night (Wednesday), but already had in place a provisional schedule of fundraising ideas to support the foundation’s schools programme.

Cllr Simpson’s year in the mayoral parlour will coincide with what would have been Amy Winehouse’s 30th birthday and the unveiling of a statue dedicated to her on the balcony of the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm.

The charity was set up in the aftermath of the singer’s death in 2011.

She was found dead at her home in Camden Square after drinking a large amount of vodka following a period of abstinence.

The Back to Black singer had worked herself free of drug addiction.

Mitch Winehouse, Amy’s father, told the New Journal he was delighted that the new mayor had chosen the foundation as his official charity, warning that drugs education in schools was non-existent.

He said: “We went to the government and asked for drugs education to be put on the school curriculum and we were told it was never on the school curriculum.

"Some schools pay lip service to it, but it’s not there. When my kids went to school, it wasn’t there.”

Mr Winehouse added: “Teaching the kids how to read and write is important, but what’s more important: geography or keeping kids alive, teaching them resilience and teaching them how to handle themselves?

"I love geography. I’m very interested. But it’s more important to be taught how to recognise risky behaviour in yourself and others than to understand what the capital of Kazakhstan is.”

He said: “People in government don’t want people in recovery to deliver the message.

"They want doctors, the school nurse, police officers – can you believe that? – the school headteachers. If you could think of the worst people to deliver the message, that’s who the government would want.

“They don’t want people in recovery to scare the kids. If people in recovery go into schools, they want the kids to wear shin-pads and health and safety goggles because they might say something that causes the kids to fall down and faint.

"In our experience, we found that they actually relate to people in recovery far better than teachers, parents and headmasters, and certainly policemen.

“The police come into schools, we’ve seen it, and get a drug box out and say this is crack cocaine, that’s heroin and the kids go: ‘Oh, ok.’ It’s crazy.”

Mr Winehouse admitted that for all the love he had for his daughter he did not know what to do when she ran into problems.

“A lot of people think it doesn’t apply to them but we can help parents have sensible conversations, so it doesn’t end up in screaming and shouting,” he said.

“Without bigging ourselves up, I think, through Amy’s name we can begin to change everything.

"We don’t go into school and say: ‘Don’t take drugs, don’t drink.’ We don’t bully. We just give the kids the information.”

The foundation aims to talk to children about the whole spectrum of drugs, including legal highs and substances that have become more popular in recent years.

Dominic Ruffey, who is in recovery and works for the foundation, said: “I remember when I was a kid, it was [Grange Hill’s] Zammo saying ‘Just Say No’.

"I remember sitting there on a Saturday having just done some LSD.

"My head was pounding and I threw whatever I had away and vowed never to do it again.

"I said all day Sunday: ‘I’m not going to do it.’ At six o’clock, I went into my dad’s wallet, nicked his money and went to score.

"I was watching Zammo on the Monday saying ‘Just Say No’ and I thought if I knew how to say No, I would. I can’t. I don’t know how to say No.”

Acland Burghley, in Tufnell Park, and La Sainte Union, in Dartmouth Park, are among the first schools which will be visited by the foundation, which has already been into schools elsewhere in the country.

Mr Winehouse said: “People’s perceptions of Amy are changing.

"Four or five years ago, there were those horrible headlines – and there’s no smoke without fire but some of them were blown up out of all proportion.

“She passed away and people realised she was just a normal girl.

"She was a kind girl. She sold her clothes, which made me angry, and gave the money away.

"She took in a homeless person at Camden Square one time.

“Camden still means a great deal to us. We still have Amy’s little flat, which she said we must never sell.

"People say we should’ve got her away from London but even in the Outer Hebrides – guess what? – there are drugs and alcohol there.”

Cllr Simpson, who promoted the plight of struggling live music and earned the nickname “the rock ’n’ roll mayor” during his previous stint in the parlour, said: “Amy loved Camden.

"I met her socially a couple of times in the year before she passed away.

“She was an absolutely warm, lovely girl with a mischievous sense of humour.

"I was absolutely devastated when she passed away. She would be proud to see this happening locally.”

He added: “In most places, children are not given any information at all. They just aren’t given the information to protect themselves in adult life.

"Drugs education is very low down on the agenda.

"It’s a huge privilege to be able to do this.

"If I can say at the end of the year, I’ve made a few people think about their health, I’ll be delighted.”

• A “sing-a-long” ball supporting the mayor’s work with the Amy Winehouse Foundation will be held at the Purple Turtle in Camden Town on May 24. It is a special version of the popular Friday I’m In Love club event.

• Mitch Winehouse will be singing with his big band at a black tie fundraiser for the London Irish Centre, in Camden Square, on May 23. Money raised will be split between the centre and the Laura Lynn Ireland Children’s Hospice.