This year, BDP’s Club & Festival Harm Reduction service, The Drop, has gone from strength to strength. Last weekend we packed up our outreach materials and headed to Eastville Park for Tokyo World Festival. This was the last festival in our packed summer schedule, and it was a good one. Over the weekend, the team engaged over 700 attendees with advice and information about drug and/or alcohol use.
The Drop was established to reduce the harm that people who take drugs in a party setting face. Taking drugs has inherent risks, but through education and equipment, we can go some way to mitigate these risks and enable people to be safer if they chose to use drugs. An excellent example of this is informing people about the risks of mixing certain substances and knowing best practices for taking particular drugs. As well as information, we also hand out resources to reduce harm, including equipment to make nasal insufflation (snorting) less damaging to the soft tissues in the nose, water bottles, condoms and informational handouts with our details in case people feel they’d benefit from further support.
We caught up with Sorcha Ryan, our Club & Festival Harm Reduction Lead, for the low-down from the weekend.
BDP: It’s been a bumper year for you and The Drop. How many events have you been to this year?
Sorcha: Yep, it’s been a busy one. We’ve been at 22 so far and spoken to over 2000 people. Some highlights were Rave on Avon, Pride, LSTD, Groove Armada, Hospitality on the Harbour, Valley Fest, Forwards & Tokyo World. Plus, we’ve got more events coming up, including numerous freshers’ events and club nights.
BDP: How was Tokyo World this past weekend?
Sorcha: Tokyo World was one of our most successful events of the year. We spoke to over 700 attendees over the weekend and had really positive engagement from members of the medical and security teams.
BDP: What was the thing the people you spoke to wanted to know the most?
Sorcha: Most people want to know about different drug combinations, what effects to expect and whether those combinations are likely to cause an adverse reaction. They’re really useful questions because we know that people often take a wider range of drugs at festivals.
BDP: What was the response from the people you spoke to about The Drop being present?
Sorcha: People are overwhelmingly positive about us being at festivals and other events. People recognise that drugs are always present (no matter how strict the searches are at the gate) and that the best way to reduce harm is to educate people on safer use. When we speak to older attendees, they often comment on how they wish services like The Drop had been around when they were younger so they could’ve avoided learning about dosage and drug combinations through trial and error!
BDP: So, have you got plans for the winter and festival season next year?
Sorcha: Now festival season is over, we’ll move from festival fields to nightclubs for winter. We’ve already got events booked in at Motion and Loco Klub and hope to start attending events at some of the newer venues in Bristol. This is always a busy part of the year for us because as well as being at events, we have outreach sessions at both universities’ freshers events to engage with new students. We hope our festival season for 2023 will be bigger and better than ever and to run more talks at events like the one we did on harm reduction in the night-time economy at Forwards Festival at the start of September.
Thanks for your time Sorcha. If you want to stay up to date with what the drop is up to, follow them on Instagram via @TheDrop_BDP.
Today is International Overdose Awareness Day 2022. A day set up to raise awareness of deaths following an overdose and to remember those we have lost as a result. We believe all deaths resulting from an overdose are preventable, and we work every day to reduce the harms caused by drugs to the people in our community.
Last year we focussed on naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. This year we want to talk about one of the most powerful tools for reducing the risk of an opioid overdose, Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST).
What is Opioid Substitution Therapy?
Opioid Substitution Therapy is where medication is prescribed to people who use opioids. This replaces their dependency on illicit drugs with the prescribed medication. The amount of the prescribed medication is then slowly reduced over time with the goal that one day the patient will no longer need the medication. The two most common medications are methadone and buprenorphine(suboxone).
Being on OST halves the risk of fatal overdose.
Why is this important?
Being on OST halves the risk of fatal overdose. And not only that, but people on OST are 3 to 4 times more likely to stay in treatment if on methadone compared to no OST. As being engaged with treatment services also reduces the risk of an opioid overdose, this further reduces the risks they face. OST also decreases the need for people to inject illicit drugs, dramatically reducing the rate of blood-borne virus infections and soft tissue injuries.
Other than physical health, OST removes the burden of needing to fund and acquire illicit drugs to make sure the person doesn’t go into withdrawal. This removes a great deal of pressure from the individual and also reduces the chances of the person entering the criminal justice system.
What we do?
At BDP, we have a whole team of staff dedicated to working with individuals who need OST. Our treatment team work within GP surgeries as dedicated drug and alcohol workers who take patients who present with issues around their drug and alcohol use. This lowers the demand on GPs and means that individuals get expert support. Our treatment team workers are in charge of prescribing OST for individuals who need it. Currently, we work out of 42 GP surgeries across bristol and are working to support nearly 1800 people.
OST is one of the single most powerful tools for reducing the risk of overdose, and we are proud to be able to provide this for the people of Bristol.
If you would like to know more about your options regarding OST please speak to your GP, who can refer you to our treatment team or contact us directly. Our full list of contact details can be found here or simply call 0117 987 6000.
We have a busy week of events coming up this week. Check out what we are up to below:
Wednesday 31st August – International Overdose Awareness Day
International Overdose Awareness Day is a yearly campaign to raise awareness of overdose, which is one of the world’s worst public health crises. Every year people and organisations around the world run events and spread the message about the tragedy of death from a drug overdose and that drug overdoses are preventable.
Join us on Brunswick Square 11am – 2pm where we will have a stall to engage our local community around overdose, provide information about the work we do and signpost people to our free naloxone training sessions.
Wednesday 31st August – Incentivised safer injecting workshop
We will be running an incentivised safer injecting training session for any injecting drug users who want to attend. The session will go over our range of injecting equipment available from our needle exchange, injecting best practices and using naloxone.
Thursday 1st September – Recovery Festival 2022
We will be at this year’s Recovery festival at the Trinity Centre in Old Market from 11am – 4pm. Our CEO, Maggie Telfer, will be doing a brief talk on the day and Rising Voices Recovery Choir will be performing on their own and as part of the movement and spoken word workshop performance, where they will be singing a specially written song for the event.
We will also be at the Recovery Festival after party at The Attic Bar on Stokes Croft from 7:30pm. The event is hosted by Bristol Sober Spaces(BSS), an organisation close to our heart. BSS put on events for those who want to socialise and listen to music without being surrounded by alcohol/drugs and those who are ‘sober curious’.
This weekend is the first year of Forwards Festival; a brand new event for the Bristol festival circuit. We are very excited that we will be hosting a panel discussion on the Forwards Information Stage titled ‘Harm reduction – A pragmatic approach to drugs in the nighttime economy. We will be joined by panellists from The Loop, Bristol City Council and Secret Garden Party.
The panel will be running from 5:15pm – 6:15pm on Saturday 3rd, so if you are attending Forwards, be sure to come along.
Our club and festival harm reduction service, The Drop, will also be there engaging attendees and handing our harm reduction materials all weekend so say hey if you see them onsite!
Left to right: Chris, Zoe, Rowan, Laura and Sophie
Creative Communities have been back on the radio this weekend chatting with Laura Rawlings on BBC Radio Bristol. Sophie, our Creative Communities manager, was joined by group members Chris, Zoe and Rowan. The team spoke to Laura about what the Creative Communities groups mean to them and had a discussion about some of the tunes that they regularly play. Big thanks to Laura and the BBC Radio Bristol team for giving us this opportunity.
Rising Voices Recovery Choir will be playing at this year’s Recovery Festival. The event is completely free and is taking place on Thursday 1st September 11am-4pm at The Trinity Centre. https://www.therecoveryfestival.co.uk/
Want to hear more of Creative Communities on the radio?
Today marks World Hepatitis Day 2022, a day to promote awareness of all things Hepatitis. Hepatitis is a blood-borne virus that can cause potentially fatal damage to the liver if left untreated. People who use drugs, especially those who inject, are in a high-risk group for suffering from Hepatitis. We are passionate about providing services to help prevent infection, make getting tested easy, and provide treatment for the people we work with. Jess Oke our Blood-borne Virus Nurse and has been working tirelessly to support people in Bristol with all aspects of Hepatitis. We caught up with Jess to see what she, and the team, have been up to and what’s in store for the future.
It’s been a big year for you, Jess; what have been some of the highlights?
It’s been a very busy year in the world of Hep C in Bristol! All local service providers have come together to collaborate in our mission to reach elimination and we have made great headway. Some highlights for me include representing Bristol at a Parliamentary Reception on Hep C hosted at the House of Commons to raise awareness with MPs. Sadly no MPs from Bristol managed to attend, but it was fantastic to be part of such a unique experience. Myself and Jason from The Hep C Trust were lucky enough to be given awards for our work, I won the bronze award for Innovation at the British Journal of Nursing Awards and Jason won the Hep C U Later peer award! Working alongside people with lived experience who give up their time for free to lift up others is one of the best things about my job. That and telling people they no longer have Hep C at the end of treatment.
Jess at the British Journal of Nursing Awards
How have you been supporting people around blood-borne viruses?
A regular week for me means finding and treating people using our community treatment pathway. The majority of people living with Hep C can now be treated without attending hospital-based clinics, which is a major step forward. We have a Hep C clinic at BDP on Mondays from 2 till 4.30, with free transport provided by The Hep C Trust for people who need it. Tuesday is outreach day; myself and Hep C Trust peer Jason go out to see people who are unable to come to Bristol Royal Infirmary or BDP. These home visits are and continue to be a powerful tool to engage people with complex needs who often have been living with Hep C for many years and need intense support to access treatment.
How has the service been evolving over the past year?
We have just appointed a brand-new role at BDP; Georgia Woodcock will be the new Assertive Engagement Hep C Outreach Worker. Her role will involve finding and engaging some of our most vulnerable service users living with HCV. This role a collaborative new project between Hep C U Later and University Hospitals Bristol Hepatology department, and we’re all excited about what Georgia will bring to the team.
The last year has seen our collaborative professional networks strengthen; the Hepatology team at the BRI works tirelessly to ensure our service users are treated in the community as well as hospitals, The Hep C Trust provide vital peer support, patient transport and medication deliveries and Hep C U Later have been a great support to BDP, with Louise Hansford most recently assisting us in getting our data on track so we can evidence our progress.
Testing event at Logos House, Bristol
What’s in store for the coming year?
Myself and BDP/ ROADS will be working hard to reach Hep C elimination status in the drug and alcohol sector by the end of 2023. I work with some very skilled and inspiring people from across the sector and I’m looking forward to seeing new staff grow into their roles and make their mark. I will continue to support our people with the most complex needs to get on treatment, so they don’t get left behind.
Thanks for the chat Jess; we can’t wait to see what the next year holds!
Our Prism – LGBT+ support group has had the honour of decorating one of SUSTRAN’s mile markers close to BDP headquarters. Members of the group came along armed with a plan and paintbrushes and set to work decorating the once bland mile marker. Over the course of the day they transformed the mile marker from rusty brown to a vibrant depiction of the pride flag to celebrate the annual event celebrating LGBT+ people. This year is the 50th anniversary of Pride so no better time to give the mile maker a revamp.
Where can I find the mile marker?
The mile marker is situated on Straight Street (some what ironically) on the corner of the large Gardiner Haskins department store in Old Market. Below is the Google maps link to the store; if you follow directions to there you definitely won’t miss it.
Who are Sustrans?
Sustrans are a charity that aims to make walking and cycling easier for everyone. They are the custodians of the National Cycle Network, the web of cycle path routes that run the length and breadth of the UK.
What is a Mile Marker?
The mile markers are cast iron sculptures that were installed to celebrate the turning of the Millenium. There are four different designs each designed by a different artist and over 1000 of these markers can be found dotted up and down the UK.
What is Prism?
Prism is our LGBT+ specific support service. We believe that accessible and appropriate services should be available to all members of our society and we understand that different groups need different services. We set up Prism in 2016 to respond to the barriers we identified that members of the LGBT+ were experiencing when trying to access support.
Prism offer one-to-one support, a weekly group session along with ad-hoc advice and support to anyone who needs it.
