A woman who lost her 15-year-old daughter to an overdose is urging parents to sit down with their children and talk about the dangers of taking drugs.

Kerry Roberts said the “just say no” message does not protect children from harm and they need to be educated about the risks associated with different types of drugs.

She said her daughter Leah Hayes was not aware of the risks when she took MDMA with a group of friends in a Northallerton car park in 2019 and suffered a cardiac arrest.

Following her daughter’s death, she has decided to launch the NotMyChild campaign, which encourages parents and guardians to have calm conversations with teenagers about the use of drugs and alcohol.

Kerry Roberts and her daughter Leah Hayes, who died after a drug overdose in 2019

“For years we have been telling our children to just say no to drugs, and in an ideal world maybe that would be enough, but the world is complicated, growing up is hard, and young people are probably going to take risks, so as parents we need to be having different conversations,” said Ms Roberts.

“On the day Leah died, she wouldn’t have understood that the drugs she took would seriously harm her, let alone end her life.”

She added: “Because we can’t be with our children all the time, I would encourage all parents, guardians and care givers to talk calmly with their own teenagers, before anything goes wrong.

"Support them to understand the risks associated with different types of drugs, so that they have the facts that they need, to set their own boundaries and to make their own safe choices”.

Kerry Roberts with her daughter Leah Hayes, who died in 2019 after she took MDMA with friends in a Northallerton car park

The campaign highlights the results of a 2018 NHS survey, which found almost a quarter (24 per cent) of schoolchildren in England said they had taken drugs and more than half of 15 year olds (55 per cent) thought it would be easy to buy an illegal substance.

It comes at a time when there are growing concerns about a recent rise in drug-related deaths in the North Yorkshire, as 90 were recorded in 2021, up from 73 the previous year.

North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is backing the NotMyChild campaign and promoting the campaign website, which offers parents advice and guidance.

“As a parent myself, I am inspired by Kerry’s determination to bring something so positive and inspirational out of Leah’s tragic death, and I fully support her in helping parents and children to have those important and often difficult conversations,” she said.

Ms Roberts has also been calling on the Government to introduce a new law, which makes selling drugs to children under 16 a specific criminal offence that carries longer prison sentences.

It comes after the teenagers who supplied her daughter with the drugs which killed her - Connor Kirkwood and Mitchell Southern - were ordered to serve 21 months and 12 months respectively in young offenders institutions.

Yorkshire mum who lost daughter to drug overdose says ‘just say no’ does not work