Help us raise £50,000 in memory of young Owen

tpyman@thekmgroup.co.uk

Almost 500 people have died as a result of drug poisoning or misuse over the last three years in Kent. Behind every one of the county’s 496 fatalities is an individual and, in most cases, a family who will no doubt be consumed by grief or wracked with guilt.

Those left behind feel responsibility and remorse in equal measure, constantly questioning what more could have been done, what signs were missed, what life that person may have gone on to live if intervention and support had been available.

The issue doesn’t align itself to any one gender, age, social class, occupation or upbringing. None of us is immune from its clutches or its alltoo-often devastating consequences.

Between 2001 and 2003, there were 296 such deaths across Kent and Medway, but according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, this figure climbed to 496 from 2016 to 2018.

Coinciding with soaring death rates is the rise of so-called county lines operations, in which criminals from the capital have increasingly targeted towns and villages in the Home Counties as a way of spreading their networks.

They do so by forcing vulnerable young people to shift the substances, with Kent county councillors warning last year children as young as five are becoming “lawless” and targeted by gangs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced last month the government would be spending some £20 million on tackling county drug networks, but sudden deaths occurring after substance misuse can happen to anyone at any time as the family of tragic Owen Kinghorn will testify.

The promising footballer and Towers School pupil - who would have turned 16 last Friday - is believed to have taken a drug for the first time before he was found dead in a field in Great Chart in September.

In a heartfelt bid to ensure his death wasn’t in vain, and to stop other families suffering similar heartbreak, Owen’s relatives are backing rehabilitation charity Kenward Trust’s Think Differently campaign.

Think Differently uses reallife stories and experiences from volunteers and workers with previous drug and alcohol addictions, as well as ex-offenders and prison volunteers, to engage with young people and raise awareness of the issues and potential consequences of substance misuse.

Their stories focus on thoughts, feelings, behaviours, underlying issues and how the choices young people make can have an effect in their life, family and community around them and can make some youngsters more susceptible to substance misuse.

This is primarily done through sessions in schools, with the charity currently working with 75 secondaries across the county.

However, these come at a cost of around £250 each and with funding for specialist drug support on a downward curve over the past four years, Kenward Trust needs to look elsewhere for a cash injection if it is to meet its target of holding sessions in all 203 secondary schools and colleges throughout Kent and Medway.

Owen’s family have already raised more than £3,000 as part of the campaign, but the KM Group wants to try and encourage donations to help the charity raise £50,000 and successfully reach out to thousands of youngsters.

Penny Williams, chief executive of Kenward Trust, said: “I feel particularly passionate about this campaign because I have teenage children myself.

“There seems to have been an increase in the last couple of years of young people thinking they are invincible and not considering what they are taking.

“We’re hoping that something good can come out of tragedies like this and that together we can save more lives.”

■ To donate, visit the page set up by Owen’s mum, Rachael, at tinyurl. com/w25vh6p

Penny Williams, Kenward Trust chief executive

Right, Owen Kinghorn, whose mother has set up an appeal in his memory for the Kenward Trust, pictured left