Fiona Spargo-Mabbs

Fiona Spargo-Mabbs founded the drug education charity the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation in 2014 in response to the death of her younger son Dan when he was 16 having taken ecstasy, in order to prevent any harm happening to anyone else’s child from drugs. Having started her working life as an English teacher, she brings to this work a wide range and depth of experience from many years of working in education at operational and strategic management levels locally and nationally, specialising in work with parents and families. She is now considered one of the leading experts in drug education in the UK, working with government, police, and an extensive range of national organisations and specialists across related sectors, as well as directly with young people, parents and professionals.

The DSM Foundation aims to support young people to make safe choices and reduce harm, through increasing their understanding of the effects and risks of drugs and alcohol, and improving their life skills & resilience. They work with young people, parents, teachers and professionals, in schools, colleges and communities across the UK. They deliver workshops for students and parents, and provide drug education resources and training to teachers and other youth professionals. Their commissioned verbatim play by Mark Wheeller, I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die, has been studied and performed by young people around the world, and has toured as a Theatre in Education production since 2017. In September 2022 it will become a GCSE Drama set text on the Eduqas syllabus.