You may want to explore support if you:

• Use substances to cope with stress, anxiety, loneliness, or sleep problems.
• Feel pressure to use substances to “fit in” socially.
• Experience blackouts, memory loss, panic, or low mood.
• Notice an impact on your studies, attendance, finances, or relationships.
• Find it difficult to reduce or stop using a substance.
• Are worried about a friend’s safety, consent, or wellbeing.

Seeking support early can help prevent problems from becoming more serious.

If you choose to drink alcohol or use substances, you can reduce risks by:

• Avoiding mixing substances, including alcohol with drugs or medication.
• Not taking substances you cannot identify or trust.
• Eating beforehand, taking breaks, and staying hydrated.
• Avoiding using substances alone and staying with people you trust.
• Looking after your mental health, as substance use and wellbeing are closely linked.

If you are worried about a friend, stay with them and seek help early.

If you need urgent medical advice related to substance use but it is not an emergency, contact NHS 111. This service is available 24/7 and you do not need to be registered with a GP. Call 111 for support.

Call 999 immediately if someone:

• Is unconscious or difficult to wake.
• Has trouble breathing or has collapsed.
• Is having seizures, chest pain, or severe confusion.
• Has taken an unknown or dangerous substance.

If in doubt, it is always safer to call for emergency help.

The following services offer free, confidential support for a wide range of substance-related concerns.

Explore:

• Change Grow Live: A national UK charity offering free, confidential support plans, peer support, and local treatment services for people affected by drugs, alcohol and related wellbeing challenges.
• Drinkaware: A UK charity providing evidence-based information, intake management tools and a helpline to help people understand and reduce alcohol intake. Helpline: 0300 123 1110.
• Talk to FRANK: Provides clear, non-judgemental information about drugs, including effects, risks, and legal issues. Phone: 0300 123 6600, Text: 82111.
• We Are With You: Supports people with drug, alcohol, and mental health concerns through local services, online resources, and one-to-one support.
• SMART Recovery UK: Provides practical tools and peer support for managing addictive behaviours, including drugs, alcohol, and prescription medication.
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): Peer-led support groups for people who want to stop drinking, with meetings across the UK. Helpline: 0800 9177 650.
• Release: Offers confidential legal advice related to drugs and drug-related situations. Helpline: 020 7324 2989 or email ask@release.org.uk.
• Mind: Provides information on the link between substance use and mental health, as well as support directories.

Sexual health services can help with:

• STI testing, treatment and advice.
• Contraception (including emergency contraception).
• Pregnancy testing and support.
• HIV testing and ongoing care.
• Advice on consent, relationships and sexual wellbeing.

You do not usually need a GP referral to access sexual health clinics, and services are confidential for everyone, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation or background. You can seek professional advice or testing even if you are unsure or have no symptoms.

Consent means freely and clearly agreeing to take part in a sexual activity. It must be given by all people involved, every time, and for each activity.

For consent to be valid, it must be:

• Freely given: Not pressured, forced, manipulated, or influenced by fear, alcohol, or drugs.
• Informed: Everyone understands what they are agreeing to.
• Enthusiastic and clear: Silence or uncertainty is not consent.
• Ongoing: Consent can be withdrawn at any time, even if it was given before.
• Specific: Agreeing to one activity does not mean agreeing to others.

Consent cannot be given if someone is asleep, unconscious, heavily intoxicated or unable to understand what is happening.
Learn more about consent and healthy relationships, which uphold strong boundaries at Art of Consent.

• NHS Sexual Health Services: Find local sexual health clinics, STI testing, contraception services, and trusted information.
  Sexual Health London (SHL): Provides free STI testing, treatment, HIV care, contraception and home testing kits for people living in London.
• Brook: Specialist sexual health and wellbeing support for under-25s, including advice on sex, relationships, consent, and contraception.
• Terrence Higgins Trust: UK charity offering information, testing support, and advice around HIV and sexual health.
• 56 Dean Street (Soho): NHS sexual health clinic providing STI testing, HIV services, contraception, and wellbeing support.
• Plus Health: Provides information, peer support, and wellbeing services for people living with or affected by HIV.