A longstanding drug awareness partnership between Pembroke Rotary Club, Valero Refinery and Theatr Fforwm Cymru for primary schools has been rolled out to secondary school pupils for the first time in the area.

The annual series of drug awareness lessons has regularly toured primary schools in the Pembroke and Pembroke Dock area over the last 19 years, but this year Gill Dowsett from Theatr Fforwm Cymru worked with Year 9 pupils at Ysgol Harri Tudur to create a series of drama productions led by the pupils themselves on the dangers of peer pressure and drug use.

Valero Refinery public affairs manager, Stephen Thornton, said: “Valero has long supported the work by Pembroke Rotary Club and Theatr Fforwm Cymru to bring this important message to primary school children on what to expect when they go to secondary school. We were thrilled with their proposal to go into Ysgol Harri Tudur to see if the message still resonates with the children as they have progressed from primary to secondary education.”

Richard Nordberg of the Rotary Club of Pembroke, which organised the event through in its long-running community service programme, said: “Pembroke Rotary Club is again grateful to Valero for their ongoing support for our initiative and to Theatr Fforwm Cymru for putting on these drama productions. Huge thanks also has to go to Ysgol Harri Tudur for their willingness to collaborate on this enterprise, which we hope will go a long way to helping pupils as they continue to face challenges as they move through school life.”