Breakthru was established in 1995 by Dungannon Development Associaton as a result of what was seen as becoming two major issues in society: alcohol and drugs. We are based in Northern Ireland's first purpose-built drugs and alcohol awareness centre.  Based in Dungannon, we also have further offices in Armagh and Fivemiletown. Recently, our work has also expanded to cover suicide and self-harm and associated risk-taking behaviours.

Founded by Dungannon Development Association, our work has expanded to cover the Craigavon, Portadown, Lurgan, Magherafelt, Clogher Valley, Banbridge and Armagh areas.

"Breakthru's mission is to be at the forefront of addressing substance misuse and risk-taking behaviours through the provision of effective education, information, support and interventions to young people and communities, and to support those engaging in risk-taking behaviours to address their problems and fulfil their human potential."

We achieve our mission through a variety of programmes and services, with a core belief of providing factual, up-to-date, relevant and impartial information and support in a non-judgemental manner and setting. We work with young people, adults, schools, communities and youth and community organisations across all age ranges, with a primary emphasis on the 8-25 year old age group. We believe in working with and empowering individuals and communities. We are an accredited provider of drugs and alcohol training (www.ncfe.org) at both Levels 1 and 2 and regularly deliver these courses to professionals and community participants. As a progressive organisation, we are constantly looking at new ways of dealing with hard issues, and of working with highly vulnerable people. Have a look around the site to find out a bit more about us, and if you need to speak to us, use the contact details page.

As a progressive organisation, we are constantly looking at new ways of dealing with hard issues, and of working with highly vulnerable people. Have a look around the site to find out a bit more about us, and if you need to speak to us, use the contact details page.

Here at Breakthru we recognise that drugs and alcohol are society-wide issues that concern young people, adults, parents, the police and communities. Our approach has always been to provide people with the facts about drugs and alcohol, not to shy away from it. The four principles we use in providing our information are that it is:

• Relevant
• Factual
• Up-to-date
• Impartial

Since we started we have expanded our work into working directly with people affected by drugs and alcohol, providing accredited training, working with vulnerable groups and individuals and community development.

Breakthru prefer to work with people and communities to address drugs and alcohol. We have three Community Service workers, one each to cover the following areas:

• Dungannon
• Armagh
• Clogher Valley

By addressing areas of concern and risk factors within communities, and building capacity in terms of drugs and alcohol, Breakthru works with and empowers groups,organisations and individuals to deal with drugs and alcohol.

At Breakthru, we are aware that some young people, and some groups of people are at a higher risk of engaging in drugs and alcohol misuse than others. We identify those individuals and groups with help from local communities, and try to work with them, or put initiatives and programmes in place to address the risk factors that are evident.

Much of our work is about engaging with people in their own communities, whether that is in the local community centre or on the streets in a detached setting.

An innovative project funded by Children in Need, it offers a new approach to alcohol and drugs education in schools.

Characterised by letting young people take the lead, by letting them research the actual issues amongst their peer groups, the content, style and method of delivery of work around drugs and alcohol can, as a result, be better tailored and focussed to address the actual issues facing young people, whilst being delivered by young people to other young people.

Fully-funded for three years, the project will allow us time to develop a fully-researched and trialled model of peer research and education for drugs and alcohol.

Our DIVERT project (Drugs and Alcohol Intervention Education and Referral Team) is an innovative arrest-referral scheme in the Armagh district area. One of the first to operate in Northern Ireland, it offers people who are arrested for offences involving drugs and alcohol, or where drugs and alcohol has led to them committing a crime, a chance to talk to someone, and to seek relevant professional help if wanted.

The DIVERT project operates and integrates very closely with other services such as the Youth Justice Agency, PSNI, Community Addictions Team, local Voluntary organisations, and other drugs and alcohol services.

Over the past several years, Breakthru has conducted a number of important pieces of research, both locally and across the Southern Health and Social Services Board area. The research has focused on the attitudes and experiences of young people in relation to drugs and alcohol. Copies are available to download below.

Breakthru strongly supports and advocates the continued need for research to inform practice within the drugs and alcohol field, and to help better target resources. New pieces of research will be published on this site.

At Breakthru, we recognise the need to talk openly about drugs and alcohol. We also understand that access to structured training is also needed by people working in jobs that aren't necessarily directly involved with drugs and alcohol, through to people volunteering their time as part of a community organisation.

We are an accredited provider of drugs and alcohol awareness training through NCFE (www.ncfe.org.uk). We currently provide Level 1 Drug Awareness and the more advanced Level 2 in Drug Awareness Studies and their Applications. Depending upon our funding, we are sometimes in a position to offer this training for free in certain areas, although in others we may have to charge for it. The training is suitable for a wide variety of groups, from businesses through to community organisations.

Breakthru currently provides counselling through our You First Counselling service. Presently, we provide a dedicated service to PBNI clients in the Magherafelt, Cookstown, Dungannon and Armagh areas who have issues relating to alcohol and/or drugs. This service is funded through PBNI Community Development Grant funding.

In addition we also operate a counselling service dedicated to addressing suicide and self-harm across the Craigavon, Portadown, Lurgan, Dungannon and Armagh areas. This service has been funded as a pilot project by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

All of our counsellors are fully qualified and all counselling operates to BACP guidelines. For further information about any of the services and how to make a referral please contact us directly.

Breakthru is based in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in the country's first purpose-built drugs awareness centre. We also have a smaller office in Armagh.

To contact us, please use the details below. Occasionally our funding prohibits us from working in certain areas, but we will do our best to help. If we are unable to work in your area, we will know of an organisation that can.

Email: mail@breakthru.co.uk