(including transcript):-

AP Entertainment

London, 12 March 2013

1. Wide shot Russell Brand joins Mitch Winehouse at press conference

2. Mid shot Russell Brand at press conference

3. Wide shot press conference

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Russell Brand/Actor, Comedian:

"I think when you're talking to young people about drugs and alcohol what's important is not to moralize about it, or say 'Don't do drugs' or futile, impotent messages that don't reach young people, I think it's important just to address the reasons why people drink and take drugs in the first place, whether they're young or old. I remember when I was a kid, the reason drugs first became attractive to me was because I felt kind of lonely and felt sad. Now I've had access to abstinence based recovery, I know that there's a solution to the initial emotional problem that led me to drink and take drugs in the first place. So that's what I think is great about the Amy Winehouse Foundation."

5. Cutaway press camera

6. Wide shot Russell Brand and Mitch Winehouse pose for photographs

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mitch Winehouse/Amy Winehouse's Father

"The event today, the Recovery Festival today, we announced the official launch of the Foundation and over the next 12 months we're in, we start with 50 schools, so we're building up slowly but we have 50 schools that we're going to be working with over the next year, working, again, as I say, talking to the parents, the teachers and the kids. Our people who are in recovery are delivering the shares" (sharing their own experiences) "and we believe that we have to do it slowly but surely, You know obviously there will be economies of scale and as we get bigger, everything else will get bigger as well but we won't rest until every child in secondary school is getting the information that they need to make the correct choices."

8. Wide shot Mitch Winehouse speaks to reporter

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Mitch Winehouse/Amy Winehouse's Father

"When we were struggling with Amy's illness, I didn't have a clue, I didn't know what I was doing and a lot of the way that I would express myself would be shouting and screaming. Which doesn't help anybody. You know we have to give people the information, allow them to understand the consequences of their behaviour, and allow them to decide when they stop taking drugs and to stop drinking. They have to make that decision, parents can't make the decision for them."

10. Wide shot Mitch Winehouse speaks to reporter

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mitch Winehouse/Amy Winehouse's Father - on the forthcoming Camden Walk of Fame

"Yeah we're involved, it's going great, we have Amy's statue which is going to be unveiled in September, which we're working on at the moment so all of these things are exciting but of course Amy's not here. I wish we weren't doing the statue, I wish we weren't doing the schools educ - well I'm glad we're doing it, we should be doing the schools education project anyway, but I wish we weren't having to think about walks of fame and statues, and things like that, I wish she was here with us. But she's not, so we have to do the best that we can."

12. Wide shot Mitch Winehouse speaks to reporter

MITCH WINEHOUSE AND RUSSELL BRAND LAUNCH DRUG AND ALCOHOL AWARENESS INITIATIVE FOR SCHOOLS

Mitch Winehouse recalled his struggle with his daughter Amy's addiction, at the launch of a charity initiative to raise awareness of the problem amoung young people.

Russell Brand, a friend of the late singer, joined her father at the launch, in London on Tuesday (12 MARCH 2013)

Launched through the charity foundation set up in the late singer's memory, The Amy Winehouse Foundation's Resilience Programme has been set up with treatment charity Addaction, and aims to tackle the root causes of drug and alcohol problems.

Brand opened up about his own history of substance abuse at the press conference, to illustrate his belief that a non-judemental approach is key to educating young people,

"I think when you're talking to young people about drugs and alcohol what's important is not to moralise about it, or say 'Don't do drugs' or futile impotent messages that don't reach young people, I think it's important just to address the reasons why people drink and take drugs in the first place, whether they're young or old," said the actor. "I remember when I was a kid, the reason drugs first became attractive to me was because I felt kind of lonely, I felt sad. Now I've had access to abstinence based recovery, I know that there's a solution to the initial emotional problem that led me to drink and take drugs in the first place. So that's what I think is great about the Amy Winehouse Foundation."

The Foundation and Addaction say the new drug and alcohol awareness programme for schools will roll out in ten places across England.

A trained team of recovering addicts, supported by professional workers, will share their own experiences to help young people better understand drug and alcohol misuse.

The focus will be on self-esteem, risky behavior and peer pressure.

Amy Winehouse died in July 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning.

Her father Mitch says working with the Foundation has helped him understand more about the disease of addiction.

"When we were struggling with Amy's illness, I didn't have a clue, I didn't know what I was doing and a lot of the way that I would express myself would be shouting and screaming. Which doesn't help anybody," he said. "You know we have to give people the information, allow them to understand the consequences of their behaviour, and allow them to decide when they stop taking drugs and to stop drinking. They have to make that decision, parents can't make the decision for them."

The late singer is now set to be posthumously honored a part of the new Camden Walk of Fame.

Due to be launched later this year by the London Borough of Camden, the Hollywood inspired Walk will feature discs honoring a range of music artists.

Winehouse confirms the idea has the family's backing - but he would rather be celebrating with a daughter still living.

"Yeah we're involved, it's going great, we have Amy's statue which is going to be unveiled in September, which we're working on at the moment so all of these things are exciting but of course Amy's not here," he said. "I wish we weren't having to think about walks of fame and statues, and things like that, I wish she was here with us. But she's not, so we have to do the best that we can."