The mother of a Co. Armagh teenager who died within hours of arriving at Newcastle University has called for more drugs education in Northern Ireland schools.
In October 2020, 18-year-old Jeni Larmour, from Newtownhamilton, died after taking drugs offered to her by one of her flatmates, hours after travelling to begin her degree.
Now, her mother Sandra, has partnered with Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, a London woman who set up a charity in 2014 after her son Daniel died after taking ecstasy.
He was only 16.
The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs (DSM) Foundation, is a drug and alcohol education charity that aims to help young people in making responsible choices.
Around a year after Jeni’s passing, Sandra spoke to Fiona, highlighting her desire for a similar charity to be set up in Northern Ireland.
The Foundation has commissioned a play for schools by writer Mark Wheeller called: ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die,’ which has already toured schools in the UK.
The play, which is named after Daniel’s last words to Fiona, will be performed in Northern Ireland schools in the spring of next year.
On November 4 and 5, the Larchfield Estate Christmas Fair in Lisburn helped to raise funds to bring the play to schools across Northern Ireland.
This event was attended by Fiona and Sandra.
The money raised will enable the DSM Foundation to fund the Northern Ireland production of the play, which tells the story of the life and death of Dan Spargo-Mabbs.
The DSM Foundation has commissioned Ballymena and Coleraine-based educational theatre company, Ever Unique Productions, to create the new production for Northern Ireland schools, based on the highly successful production their two youth theatres performed in 2023.
Speaking to Armagh I, Sandra explained: “This has been on the go from around about September 2023, when we started making serious plans for the whole thing – contacting schools, policing partnerships and councils.
“Larchfield has been invaluable in terms of the fundraising and getting that all setup, and all the schools we speak to are really interested. We’ve only 20 slots, so we’re trying to do as wide coverage of the whole of Northern Ireland as we can.
“That’s only wave one and that’s just to get us out there and to get known. Our plan is that this will be something that will be readily available all over Northern Ireland.”
Sandra says she wants to see the whole organisation of DSM deployed in Northern Ireland.
“There’s nothing like this in Northern Ireland,” she said. “There is drug help out there by way of organisations you can go to if you recognise that you’ve got a problem, but there are very few people that are coming in at the start and giving out a message that you may or may not need, but may come in useful at some point when you’re older and you’re in a situation where you could make a choice.
“It’s also about bringing it in through a fun aspect and with the music involved it will appeal to young people and be entertaining, and therefore memorable.
“We engage with storytelling rather than somebody saying, ‘You must not do this’. You don’t remember the rules of life as quickly as you remember the storytelling aspect of it.
“Hopefully young people will be able to go home and say they had seen a play and so engage the parents to be able to have that conversation.”
She continued: “I would like to see a DSM in Northern Ireland. Then you’ve got Northern Ireland people working on the ground, with Northern Ireland stories, and aimed at Northern Ireland young people and parents.
“We really need more people on the ground over here.”
Sandra says it’s her ambition to “keep Jeni’s name out there” and keep the project going.
She added: “I want to make sure that there isn’t one other kid that goes to a big city in the UK and isn’t prepared for the type of environment that is out there, and is creeping into Northern Ireland.”
Sandra says there is plenty of appetite amongst groups in Northern Ireland for drug awareness facilities and has met with community policing teams, as well as MLAs Michelle Guy and Paul Givan.
She has also been involved with CCEA, the exam board, and is making in-roads in getting the play featured on the syllabus for GCSE students.
For Sandra, the key advice to parents is to “keep communicating”.
She said: “Fiona’s son wasn’t into drugs. I know every parent thinks their child wouldn’t do that, but both Dan and Jeni were thrown into situations where they didn’t have enough information about what was happening and they did something on a one-off, which was really silly, and consequently resulted in their deaths.
“They weren’t habitual drug users. That’s not who we’re aiming at. We’re aiming this at getting the information out so that people know what is out there and that’s what they will have to face someday.
“Parents need to be waking up to the reality that their child will be faced with this someday, either in a social situation, or a work setting, and we need to lift the taboo of this.
“It’s not just your drinks being spiked in a pub or a club anymore. Drugs are becoming more and more widespread and people just need to wake up.”
Sandra adds that it’s just as important for young people to be aware of their circumstances and surroundings, so they know how to help if someone does come under the influence of drugs.
“It’s about saving lives at the end of the day,” she said. “We will never know the amount of lives saved by people making informed choices and doing the right thing at the time.”
