2024 at BDP

We’ve had a lot to celebrate this year, from the micro-elimination of Hepatitis C to the 10-year anniversary of Creative Communities, all of our staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to make BDP’s 38th year a great one!

So join us while we take a deep dive into 2024 at BDP…

The Loop Drug Checking Service

We kicked off the year with the introduction of our monthly Drug Checking Service in collaboration with The Loop. This service has provided the Bristol community with an opportunity to test their substances and contribute to the growing picture of the drug supply in the city.

Getting the opportunity to work with The Loop and provide Bristol with a Drug Checking Service for the entirety of 2024 has proved massively valuable for both our service users and for those who have never accessed our service before.

With each substance submitted, a harm-reduction intervention is delivered to the individual based on The Loop’s growing web of results. This advocates for a more tailored, person-centred harm reduction message to be spread, helping keep people who use drugs safer.

Want to learn more about drug testing? Click here.

Dentaid

In collaboration with dental health charity Dentaid, we’ve been running dental appointments for people engaged in BDP services from our location in Brunswick Square. Participants received a check-up, could talk to a dentist about any issues they were having and had emergency procedures, including fillings and extractions as needed. 

This year we had 108 patients, 464 treatments, 79 extractions, 36 fillings! That’s a lot of teeth!

This collaboration with Dentaid allows our service users to access dental healthcare, something that may not be possible without access to this service. We extend a huge thanks to Dentaid for their efforts this year.

Transformation Project

In 2024 we introduced our Transformation Project, adding two new services to BDP.

We launched a Primary Care Assessment Team. People often approach their GP as a first step to getting support around their drug and alcohol use, our new team makes this process more accessible and helps our service users into treatment quicker. We also offer 1-2-1 support with our new Alcohol Team for people wanting to make changes to their alcohol use.

Since April we’ve had over 1000 referrals into our new services. This new pathway has made accessing treatment meaningfully more accessible, and has allowed us to reduce waiting times by 94%!

This is a huge step forward in the support we can offer our service users. The capacity that our new teams and new members of staff provide has made BDP a more accessible and integrated service across the board.

Want to book an appointment with our Alcohol Team? Click here.

Alcohol Quiz

We introduced a 3-question alcohol quiz on our website this year, taken from the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), a standardised measure created by the World Health Organisation that helps people identify risks with their alcohol consumption.

Over 2000 people have completed the quiz, with 76% found to be drinking at a potentially harmful level.

Having access to an online tool where people can assess their level of drinking is a useful way to initiate some reflection on their relationship with alcohol – if this is something they want to do.

Our quiz then directly leads to our booking system where someone can book an appointment with our Alcohol Team to begin to make those changes they want to make.

Want to take our Alcohol Quiz? Click here.

Commemorating Maggie Telfer OBE

In April this year, we planted a tree in Brunswick Square just outside our offices in memory of Maggie Telfer OBE. Maggie was one of the founding members of our organisation and was the CEO for 36 years until her untimely passing at the start of 2023.  

The event was organised by Maggie’s family and was attended by BDP staff, trustees, friends and colleagues from other organisations around Bristol.

The tree is a Crimson Cloud Hawthorne that will blossom in a rather fitting pink flower when mature enough, and is getting bigger by the day!

Want to read more about Maggie’s tree? Click here.

Naloxone

Distributing naloxone is a huge part of our service. It is a medication that can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, giving emergency services more time to respond.

This year we have distributed a total of 2,379 naloxone kits (1,813 Prenoxad – injectable naloxone, 566 Nyxoid – nasal naloxone).

We also provide naloxone training for anyone who may work with, support, or interact with people who use drugs. This year we have trained over 800 individuals to be able to identify an opioid overdose and administer naloxone. Training as many people as possible is even more impactful for the community given the rise in synthetic opioids over the last few years.

Naloxone Saves Lives, and our ability to roll out kits and training all year round has been instrumental in ensuring we minimise overdose risk among people who use opioids.

Want to know more about naloxone? Click here.

Crack Pipes

This year we had the pleasure of working with The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to distribute Safer Inhalation Pipes to our service users as part of some research into risks associated with smoking crack cocaine.

After a couple of months in the dark, we received a letter of comfort to confirm that we were allowed to continue to distribute Safer Inhalation Pipes outside of the parameters of the study!

We hope that by providing our service users with a safer alternative with which to smoke crack, we continue to increase harm-reductive conversations around drug use, facilitating a stronger relationship and sense of trust and connection between BDP and its service users.

Want to know more about our crack pipes? Click here. 

Funding, Food And More Funding!

2024 has been a year for giving! Feeding Bristol have graced us with funding for food parcels, pressure cookers, and cooking workshops throughout the calendar year.

We received almost £15,000 in total from Feeding Bristol which has been split between our M32 Youth Group, Women’s Morning, and Fifty Plus.

With the ability to engage our service users with practical culinary skills and a take-home free hot meal, the cookers have been a great addition to the Fifty Plus Group’s activities… And it makes our kitchen smell delicious!

Our M32 Youth Group have also had a wonderful year of culinary adventures. Not only has the Feeding Bristol fund provided our young people with food parcels, but this year M32 collaborated with Coexist Community Kitchen where they were taught how to cook tasty meals to take home! Nadu also lent a helping hand in providing a hot meal for our young people, with a free Sri Lankan spread at their restaurant across the road from our offices!

But the food fun-ding doesn’t stop there!

Our green-fingered gardening group received £20,000 from the National Lottery this year to ripen their opportunities in BDP’s allotment. In addition to working wages, the grant will help expand all elements of the allotment to give its members more crops, more capabilities and more food. 

We extend a huge thanks to the organisations and businesses who have supported us this year, without whom, these opportunities would not be possible.

Want to read more about funding? Check out our blog.

Creative Communities 10-Year Anniversary Gala

Roll up! Roll up! The Creative Communities Gala is here! What a great success it was. We marked this milestone in October with a sold-out night of performances at Circomedia in the heart of St. Pauls. 

The evening was filled with spine-tingling acappella, orchestral arrangements, and performances of epic songs ranging from John Williams to Cat Stevens, alongside hip-hop, poetry, a funk medley, and a show-stopping, co-written finale that combined spoken word and movement.  

The gala showcased the talents and journeys of our members through performances from Rising Voices Choir, Bristol Recovery Orchestra, Oi Polloi Theatre Group, Changing Tunes Beginners Group, Hip Hop Garden, Recovery in Motion, and Bristol Sober Spaces.

We want to extend a massive thank you to everyone who attended, performed, facilitated, or volunteered, each of you helped make the evening truly special.  

Want to read more about the gala? Click here.

Our Collaboration with Bristol SU

We’ve been working closer than ever this year with The University of Bristol and Bristol Student’s Union to provide harm reduction advice and materials for the city’s students.

We released a series of videos in collaboration with the university with tips and tricks on staying safe on a night out. You can view all the videos on The Drop’s Instagram account.

We’ve also handed out over 120 Reagent testing kits this year! This is a great way to engage students, make them aware of our services, and give them the opportunity to test their substances.

Are you a student who wants support? Click here to book an appointment.

Hepatitis C Micro-Elimination

The whole organisation have pulled together this year to test our service users for Bloodborne Viruses (BBVs).

In an effort to work towards our micro-elimination target, we’ve had a strong focus on Hepatitis C and it’s been our best year for testing yet.

In 2024 we’ve done over 1050 BBV tests! That’s more than last year… and the year before… and more than twice as many as 2019!

All this testing led to us reaching micro-elimination of Hep C in Bristol! This is a massive achievement for BDP, for Bristol and more importantly for our service users, many of whom are very vulnerable and find accessing health care services extremely challenging.

We extend a huge thank you to everyone at BDP for helping achieve this! Special shout out to our Shared Care Team, our Hepatitis C Engagement Worker Georgia and our BBV Nurse Jess.

Want to read more about micro-elimination? Click here.

Thank you to our Volunteers!

Our volunteers form a huge part of BDP. Their commitment to the cause, dedication to our service users and passion for support help the wheels of BDP go round.

We’re proud to have recruited hundreds of amazing volunteers over the last 31 years. Their contribution to our service is instrumental; we couldn’t do what we do without them.

Don’t just take it from us, hear from a volunteer themselves:

“Volunteering at BDP is a life-changing experience. You learn so much about others (and yourself), develop so many life skills and knowledge, and are part of the heart of the Bristol community and a team like no other. It can’t be condensed into words. If you’re thinking about volunteering, go for it.”

Want to volunteer for BDP? Click here.

A Word From Lydia Plant – Interim CEO

“2024 has been a huge year for BDP. We’ve hosted the UK’s first city-centre drugs checking service with The Loop, celebrated ten years of our Creative Communities, rolled out Safer Inhalation Pipes, launched a new peer-led group in our 50+ service, been involved in 6 research projects and continued to deliver high quality, compassionate services across Bristol. We’ve also faced challenges as a community. Drug related deaths are continuing to rise across the UK and we have seen the impact of nitazenes in Bristol. Our yearly celebration of life service was a stark reminder of the lives that have been lost to alcohol and other drugs this year and a reminder that we need to keep fighting to deliver services that keep people safe, reduce harm and enable people to make the changes they want to make in their life. 

2025 will be a year of change for us. Anna Smith, our CEO, is moving on from BDP and her passion for Bristol and developing services will be missed. In April, we will launch a new drug and alcohol treatment system alongside a new partnership, which we are extremely excited about. We aim to listen more to people who use our services, allow ourselves to be challenged and alongside our communities, continue to find new ways to be there for the people who need us.”

Thank you from us!

Thanks to everyone who has worked for or alongside us this year to make it one of our strongest yet. We’re excited to see what the future holds as we continue to pioneer with, support and champion people who use drugs.

See you in 2025!