The why that makes you cry

OUR story

Why we started

the new drug education system

In January 2016 Alex went to a house party in Cork City and tried a synthetic substance believing it to be a less potent drug. He was 18 years old and had a lot of plans for his future. Alex ended up taking a huge dose of the lethal drug known as N-bomb which resulted in him being brought to hospital where Alex never regained consciousness and 4 days later sadly died.

Nicole wanted what happened to her family to never need to happen to another so needlessly again so she decided that Alex would change the world and she would be his catalyst and story teller.

Nicole gave up her career as a Marine & Plant Engineer to come home and build Alex’s Adventure. Over the last 5 years she have traveled the length and breadth of the country visiting schools and delivering her workshop educating and sharing how our choices can impact our lives forever. She has delivered this workshop to over 8500+ students nationwide.

From this life changing experience Alex’s Adventure, the drug education program was born. We developed a brand-new programme that aims to not only help students learn more about substance misuse but also to upskill people in the community and empower them to be able to do what Nicole can do.

Our Courses
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The problems
we face today

Year on year the drug problem gets worse and here are some problems that we have identified through our ongoing research and evaluation. 

Drug Deaths

Ireland has the 5th highest drug mortality rate in Europe while Worldwide 50 people die every hour. 1 in 3 people die from alcohol abuse and 67% of poisonings involved licit (legal) drugs.

Drugs being used in < 24 year olds

- Alcohol
- Benzodiazepines
- NPS
- Cocaine
- MDMA/E’s

Insufficient drug education

Teachers have little to no training in Substance Misuse with materials being outdated and almost irrelevant. Teachers are already overworked and stressed and drug education is difficult to teach.

Students wanted to know more...

Students want a more in depth look at substance misuse and not the "Just Say No" approach. They want drug education to be relevant to their lives today and learn what to do if they are faced with these choices.
"It's not just a problem in disadvantaged schools anymore. The more elite schools have more money and therefore can afford higher class drugs!"
Nicole Ryan

Over the Years Alex's Adventure has won some awards too.

Awards

Humaniterian of the year 2018

Best Showcase Ignite 2019

IRD DUHALLOW BEST START UP 2019

pride of cork award 2021

The people who make it possible

MEET THE Team

Nicole has a degree in Marine & Plant Engineering, Dip. in Substance Misuse and Addiction Studies as well as various other courses. She is working as a Trainee Addiction Counsellor and is working towards her full accreditation.

Nicole Ryan

Founder, Workshop & Training Facilitator

Aiden founded Eolas International Research, which has become a leading global research company with its headquarters in Cork. Aiden is a key player in Alex’s Adventure as both a mentor and an advisor.

Aiden Lee

 CEO Eolas International

Martina is an experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the research industry. She is skilled in Business Development, Financial Accounting and External Audit.

Martina Daly

  CCO Eolas International

Caroline held several senior executive roles at Flex over the past 16 years including President of NOVO & technical services and SVP of Global business development.

Caroline Dowling

EX- CEO Flextronix

Mauricio Troncoso has close to 30 years of experience in Marketing and General Management at global companies like Procter & Gamble, Mead Johnson and Kimberly-Clark and is now a management consultant at Kinetic Consulting and CMO at We Make Change.

Mauricio Troncoso

Senior Executive /Strategy / Transformation / Branding Kinetic Consulting

Dr. Samantha Dockray is a lecturer in the School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork. Her key interests relate to the application of psychobiological models of behaviour and emotions in adolescents.

Dr. Samantha Dockray

 Adolescent Behavior Psychologist

Dr. Sharon Lambert is a lecturer in the School of Applied Psychology in UCC & has spent several years working with marginalised young people and their families.

Dr. Sharon Lambert

 Substance Misuse Psychologist

Tríona Ní Chualáin is an Irish and English teacher originally from Carna, Connemara, Co. Galway. Tríona has knowledge and skills in teaching strategies, methodologies and more importantly, she understands the needs of both the teacher and the students.

Tríona Ní Chualáin

 English & Irish Teacher, Carrigtwohill Community College

Thomas works with animation and graphics for instructional, educational and communicative purposes. His work draws on research and over a decade of creating visual content that is intuitive and helpful for intended audiences.

Thomas Heising

 Visual Content Designer

Arden is a passionate and motivated Web Developer and Web designer. He has Strong working knowledge in Web Development and Digital Design with hands on experience collaborating in the development of web applications and the design of bespoke websites and web applications.

Arden Dias

Web  Developer/Designer

Being a quality-oriented professional as a Graphic Designer, Srabani is experienced in handling several creative projects, branding and visual conceptualization. Equipped with the ability to escalate brand awareness by utilizing skills gained in the creative industry.

Srabani Halder

Senior Graphic Designer