Sunlight Project

Sunlight_Graphic KCA developed the Sunlight Project in 2005 in response to figures from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which estimates that there are between 250,000 and 350,000 children of problem drug users in the UK today. In addition, In England alone, there are approximately 1.3 million children affected by parental alcohol problems and around 2.6 million children are living with a hazardous drinker.

What are the effects of a close family member's substance misuse on a child?

Anti-social behaviour
School problems
Emotional difficulties
Friendship/relationship difficulties

Who is the Sunlight Project for?

Any young person between the age of 7 to 18 years old who has experienced the effects of someone else's drug and/or alcohol misuse
Children who come from a family where one or more family members is a substance misuser

Where is the Sunlight Project available?

The Sunlight Project is currently being delivered in Ashford,Dover, Deal, Thanet, Shepway and Swale
The age remit for participants in Shepway is 7 to 18 years old
The age remit for all other areas is 7 to 13 years old

When and where to the groups run?

School period	Location	Duration
Term time	At school	Once a week for one to two hours, for eight weeks
Holidays and half term	In local youth centres	Every day for two hours a day, for five days

Who can refer children to the project?

Anyone can refer children to the project - the child, a teacher, parent, carer, social worker, doctor ...

Download a referral form

The referral can be sent to us by:

email to sunlight.project@kca.org.uk
post to KCA Young Person's Service, 34 Simmonds Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3RA
telephone to 01227 456744
fax to 01227 457628

What people say about the Sunlight Project

Participants

‘It's cool'
‘It's fun'
‘It's helped me and been nice to meet others'
‘It's helping you to stop worrying'
‘There's people you can talk to'
‘When I am upset it made me really happy and I have fun all the time'
‘You can have alone time'
‘You can talk to people about things at home'
‘It keeps me out of trouble'
‘You get to try different things'
I have learnt a lot and it has changed everything. It is a fab idea'
‘It helps me to talk about my feelings and I can share them more'
‘It is a chance to mix with others and give you some time out and to help others who go through things like that'
‘It is a good idea because it helps me with a lot of my problems at home and I have learnt a lot of things about stuff when I have been at the Sunlight group'

Referrers

Positive support package in that young persons work together and are able to appreciate that there are other young people in similar situations to their own. (Family Liaison Officer)
The worker always ensures that there are groups available for the young people I refer very quickly. All young people have gained a lot from the groups - both knowledge of drugs and alcohol but also social skills, confidence and self esteem. Also they all really enjoy it. (YISP)
I am in the process of completing another referral form. In my view this Service is fantastic and very much needed. Without the Sunlight Project there wouldn't be any support out there for children who are unfortunately exposed to drug and alcohol misuse. (Parent Support Advisor)
This is a very valuable resource and needs to continue as it really does support the young people it helps. The young people I referred really enjoyed attending. (Social Worker)
I was not sure what to expect! The children grew in confidence and seemed to have a sense of "relief" about being able to discuss issues which are deemed as being taboo. The knowledge that other children understood what they had to deal with at home was a real positive for the majority.