To highlight this year’s International Overdose Awareness Day, BDP’s Creative Communitygroups took to the streets of Bristol City Centre to showcase a public pop-up performance.
Held annually, the aim of International Overdose Awareness Day is to both raise awareness and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths, while remembering those who have died because of drug overdose.
The voices and performances were both glorious and poignant. Thank you to everyone who made this not just possible but an amazing experience to be part of. This was a first for BDP in marking International Overdose Awareness Day in a public way and an important step in standing up against stigma.
– Maggie Telfer, BDP CEO
Featuring members from BDP’s drama group, orchestra and choir, this year’s performance was held in partnership with Brighton-based arts and recovery organisations, who hosted their own performances in Brighton.
In 2018, Cascade Creative Recovery the Brighton-based, peer-led recovery organisation, created a series of pop-up performances with their drama group and choir to raise awareness about overdose.This year they joined forces with Small Performance Adventures, a Brighton theatre company creating workshops and events with people in recovery, and BDP to produce the new simultaneous Bristol and Brighton pop-up performances.
Our performances are a way of us remembering the people we know whose lives have been lost to drugs or alcohol. They also help raise communities’ awareness that most drug related deaths are accidental. In the first half of this year alone, BDP has supplied the life-saving drug Naloxone on 548 occasions, including replacing 70 supplies reported to have been used to save someone’s life.
Our Prism outreach team were loud and proud helping to raise awareness of our dedicated LGBT+ alcohol and drug support service. At Prism, we believe that the better understanding you have of the pleasures and risks associated with alcohol and other drugs, the more you are able to make informed decisions.
— BDP | Bristol Drugs Project (@BDProads) July 14, 2019
We began the day joining in the Pride Parade in central Bristol where were joined by staff, volunteers and service users from across BDP services. We then made our way to the new festival site at The Down, where our Prism outreach team provided harm reduction advice and resources, as well as a place away from the crowds where for people to sit if it was getting a bit too much.
The march was fabulous and the day time engagement at the new Downs site was brilliant.
– Maggie Telfer, BDP CEO
As usual, our team put in a lot of effort to stand-out from crowd and get in the festival spirit with a range of activities and give-aways to attract people to find out more about the work we do. This year we continued the distribution of our new reusable water bottles to help you keep hydrated. We also continued collecting results for 2019’s festival survey which will continue to help us find out about the shape of drug use in Bristol.
Following on from last year’s fantastic work at St Paul’s Carnival, our BDP outreach team, made up of staff and invaluable volunteers, returned to St Paul’s to provide essential harm reduction advice, free resources and a safe place for those wanting to relax in our chill-out zone.
There was excellent engagement throughout the day. It was great to be out in our local community where we could hear what BDP means to people from all walks of life. We had great feedback from students, parents and professionals.
– Tish, BDP Diverse Communities Link Worker
Last year, the Carnival organisers were “blown away” by our team’s involvement, so this year we made sure to deliver some of the same fantastic resources, like our chill-out zone and health care truck. We also launched new resources, like our harm reduction advice cards and refillable festival water bottles to keep people hydrated when they’re having fun.
The service BDP provide is fantastic and you should all be very proud!
Our BDP outreach team will be back at Bristol Pride Day on Saturday 13th July, representing our Prism service. We hope to see you there.
On Friday 21st June our recovery choir celebrated Make Music Day UK with live performances across Bristol.Make Music Day is an annual set of free music events taking place on the longest day of the year in venues and public spaces across the UK – from town squares to libraries, bandstands to school halls and arts centres.
When you sing all your problems go away for that moment.
– Andy, Rising Voices
Rising Voices Recovery Choir, begun their day rising early to join Emma Britton on BBC Radio Bristol’s Breakfast Show, where choir members talked about their positive experiences in Rising Voices and they also gave a live performance of Rushing to help relax all all the commuters who might be feeling a bit stressed in their morning traffic.
— BDP | Bristol Drugs Project (@BDProads) June 21, 2019
The choir then travelled to Bristol Harbour for their public performance in Brunel Square, outside Brunel’s SS Great Britain, before climbing on board the ship itself for their finale performance for ticket holders.
Catch up with the choir on BBC Sounds while you still have a chance. (Skip to 1:52:40 on the timeline)
It’s Learning Disability Week, a great opportunity to raise awareness of the important work our dedicated Learning Disability Link Workers do at BDP.
We caught up with Emma, one of our Link Workers, to find out more about their role.
As Link Workers, we offer a flexible and accessible service for people who experience learning difficulties who want support around problematic alcohol and drug use.
We can provide harm reduction information and advice to people using alcohol and other drugs problematically and can support them to overcome barriers they might face in accessing Bristol’s Recovery Orientated Alcohol & Drugs Service (ROADS).
The learning disability charity Mencap is using this year’s Learning Disability week to raise awareness of the isolation people with learning disabilities feel and encourage more inclusive activities. According to their recent survey, 18% of people with a learning disability said they felt alone and cut off from other people.
We also support people by encouraging them to try new activities which can help combat isolation. At BDP we offer a range of accessible social and creative groups which allow people to work towards their recovery goals in safe spaces. This includes BDP’s Women’s Morning and our recovery groups for drama and music.
– Emma, BDP Link Worker
Find out more about how we our ensuring our information and services are accessible to people with learning disabilities.
Today is National Refill Day, an awareness campaign urging people to stop buying single-use plastic bottled drink water.
We’re doing our part this summer by providing refillable water bottles at festivals across Bristol.
Don’t get in a state. Rehydrate!
It’s very important to drink water when you’re at a festival. We suggest sipping water regularly, somewhere around a pint an hour.
Remember to take break from dancing, in the shade away from the sun. If you are overheating or feel unwell always seek medical attention.
Our new refillable water bottles are perfect for the festival season, as they are lightweight and collapsible – rolling up into your pocket when empty.
