Former Pop Idol star sends anti-drug message to Larkhall Academy

Feb 11 2010 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

FORMER Pop Idol star David Graham’s hard-hitting anti-drugs message was a smash hit with pupils at Larkhall Academy.

His 75-minute show, called “Natural High”, rolled into the Academy last week.

As well as entertaining the pupils, the show promotes various sources of advice which can enable young people to make informed choices.

The core message of the event is to educate and at the same time heighten young people’s awareness of how drug use and abuse can have a serious impact on the levels of crime in their communities.

The show, which is in its fifth year and is aimed at S1 pupils, also includes general healthy lifestyle messages, along with a number of competitions with prizes.

Fiona Ballantyne, spokeswoman for Larkhall Academy, said: “’Natural High’ is all about making the most of your life, using your talents to get a natural high instead of chemical highs from drugs.

“David’s personality and humour captivated the pupils whilst interacting and performing a range of songs and activities.”

A competition was held during the Academy performance in which the pupils were asked to write a slogan to promote the ‘Natural High’ experience.

David picked three winners from S1 at the Academy and presented them with top prizes.

The lucky winners were James Cross (1C) who wrote: “Drugs are not something I want to take – they could destroy the life I make!”.

Sean Scott (1C) said: “A loss of lives is caused by this – cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis.”

Lyndsay McGhie’s (1M2) slogan was: “David Graham came to our school. He was really nice and really cool.

“He talked to us about natural highs – we learned a lot and then he said goodbye.”

David, who is from Carlisle, has taken his show to thousands of schools throughout the UK, including Hamilton Grammar, Holy Cross and Strathaven Academy

He has enjoyed success supporting many of today’s major chart acts, including Ronan Keating, Big Brovaz and stars from Liberty X and Girls Aloud.