'I warn pupils after daughter's alcohol death'

13 hours ago

Amy Cole

BBC Midlands Today

Former mayor Jane Mackenzie heads Share Shrewsbury which was set up to support people affected by addiction

BBC A woman with blonde hair sat at a desk next to a computer which has an image of her daughter on and the words "thanks for listening" above the photo. On the desk are a coffee cup and some stationary, including pens, paper and a ruler. — Former mayor Jane Mackenzie heads Share Shrewsbury which was set up to support people affected by addiction

"Just shout out and tell me any sorts of alcohol that you know."

Jane Mackenzie is talking to a class full of Year 6 children, who are mostly 11 year olds, at The Martin Wilson Primary School in Shrewsbury.

She is on a mission to raise awareness of how dangerous alcohol is, and is motivated by the grief of losing her 37-year-old daughter Amy, who had become addicted to alcohol.

Amy Liebich was a teenager when she was first persuaded to try alcohol by some older children. Back then the family lived in Wales and Amy would often go to the beach to hang out with friends, which is where she was offered it.

Amy's story is being told to pupils to warn them about the risks of alcohol

Family photo A black and white photo of a woman holding flowers between her teeth. She has blond hair in a short bob and is wearing a black halter neck top. — Amy's story is being told to pupils to warn them about the risks of alcohol

Jane, a former mayor of Shrewsbury, said Amy was an 'all or nothing' kind of person, and immense fun.

"She was an amazing little girl. She was funny, she was clever, she had loads of friends, and Amy was quite an exciting girl to be around," her mother said.

"Everyone wanted to be Amy."

Over time, Amy began drinking more and more, until she couldn't function without it. At first she kept it a secret from her family, but then it became too difficult to hide.

Jane said she lost count of the number of times her daughter was hospitalised, and she tried to help her seek therapy to stop.

In May 2019, Amy died after living with addiction for a long time.

Now Jane wants to reach out to children who are on the cusp of leaving primary school, so she can warn them about the dangers of consuming alcohol before they reach adulthood and the effects it can have on the brain.

Jane tells the class: "She is the reason I'm here today.

"Cause I know that Amy wouldn't want you to make the mistakes that she made, and she'd want to save you from what happened to her."

Year 6 pupils were told about Amy and how she struggled with alcohol dependence

Children in a class wearing white tops or red jumpers are sat on blue plastic chairs. They are pictured from the back and are facing the front of the class where a woman is talking to them and giving a presentation using a computer. — Year 6 pupils were told about Amy and how she struggled with alcohol dependence

She describes the effects that drinking alcohol can have on the brain, such as slowing it down so much a person can blackout.

It can make people feel so sick they vomit, they might be dizzy, fall over and injure themselves.

"Top scientists call it the 'most dangerous drug in the world', and that's because more people die and get injured, and more families are affected because of alcohol, much more than any other drug," she said.

'Learned quite a lot'

For the pupils, who have been watching intently, Jane's workshop has really hit home.

Sky commented: "It was really nice of her to come and tell us to be careful around alcohol and not to do what Amy did. And if anyone does offer us alcohol, then we could, like, tell an adult or someone we trust."

Her classmate Oakley agreed and added: "I learned quite a lot from what alcohol can do to you.

And if someone offers it me at this age, I would definitely say no because I do not want those effects."

And Leo said he had decided he never wants to try it.

"I would not drink alcohol even if I was the age that you can drink it, 'cause of the negative effects it can cause," he said.

This is Jane's first workshop as part of her charity, Share Shrewsbury, and she's keen to run more at other schools.

She admits they're still at an early stage.

"We're just putting the workshops together, so it needs to be right, it needs to fit in with all the aims and objectives of the school and to be appropriate for different age groups, so there's quite a bit of work involved," Jane explained.

"But it just feels like the right thing to do, especially because there's no alcohol prevention work being done in Shropshire at the moment."

And she would like to get parents involved too.

Amy Liebich was funny, clever and popular, her mother said

Head teacher David Purslow said the school tries to prepare its young people for the real world as much as it can.

"Coming to the end of Year Six, they're going off to secondary school; we always say that once they leave us, they become more independent, they're perhaps walking home from school more on their own, they're exposed to more influences from people in the outside world," he said.

"Having this knowledge is really important for them and I think a great start for them and a good bit of information to take away."

To end the workshop, Jane gives the students "beer goggles" to wear which mimic what it's like to be drunk, so they can see how disorientating it can be.

She hopes by telling Amy's story, she will save lives.