As Christian drug education charity, Hope UK, continues its expansion throughout the UK this year, it is celebrating a new milestone after recruiting its 200th voluntary drug educator.

Hope UK's drug educators are active in communities throughout the UK. They work directly with children and young people as well as providing drug awareness sessions for parents and other adults who have responsibility for them.

Although they come from all walks of life and include many different nationalities, the one thing they all have in common is a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people.

When Mariana Pretorius from Hinckley in Leicestershire was asked by the charity why she had applied to join, she said: "I have a passion for kids and can see the harm that drugs and alcohol are doing to them.

"I want to help make a difference and becoming a Hope UK Educator will enable me to do that."

Pretorius will embark on 120 hours of Open College Network accredited study so that she can enable young people to make drug-free choices. As most of the course is distance learning, she will be able to fit this round her job as a primary school teacher.