26.03.20
4 minute read
Bristol Drugs Project was delighted to be recognised with two nominations in the Golden Key Great Practice Awards which were held for the first time this year.
BDP received nominations for its part in Bristol’s multiagency outreach and wet clinic team thanks to Darlene Wheeler. Jasmine Lawrie (BDP) was nominated alongside Stephen Pratt (Golden Key) for the partnership between Golden Key and BDP to deliver training to staff working in local cafes, bars and other venues.
The awards have been setup to celebrate the people working hard to improve services and outcomes for people with complex needs. They recognise the good work taking place around Bristol to provide better support to the most vulnerable people in the community.
Talking about the awards Maggie Telfer, CEO of Bristol Drugs Project said…
Bdp was delighted not only to have two nominees in the very first Golden Key Great Practice Awards but to have our very own Rising Voices adding their special sound to the event. Our nominations were for training Jasmine & Stephen have developed and delivered; and for Darlene’s exceptional work with partner BrisDoc and St Mungo’s, running Bristol’s Wet Clinics for people who are alcohol dependent, who otherwise couldn’t access services. We were also really pleased that the award went to … Michael Ward from the DWP… who we’ve worked closely with on mitigating the impact of Universal Credit for our service users.
BDP’s Nominations for Organisations Working Together
Bristol’s multiagency outreach and wet clinic team
This is an initiative that has taken services to people and lowered barriers to treatment. This combined team of outreach workers from St Mungos, Assertive Outreach workers from BDP and a GP from the Homeless Health Service engages homeless people with there and then harm reduction services (needle exchange, naloxone, wound care) and opens routes to emergency accommodation and wider health and substance misuse treatment systems. It is called a wet clinic as unusually people are allowed to bring their alcoholic drinks onto the premises and therefore opens up services to those who are alcohol dependent and often homeless, meaning they need to keep their belongings (including their alcohol) on them. Human relationships forged through practical interventions in environments with the lowest possible thresholds have reduced barriers to starting longer term health, psychosocial and housing interventions. Staff have started using the Blue Light Project as part of this for the first time in Bristol. This is a manualised suite of interventions designed to start the very steps in helping people to address long term and entrenched alcohol problems.
The sum of work carried out by this innovative team is greater than their individual components in connecting people with complex needs to housing, health and substance misuse. Such was the success and popularity of the first wet clinic at the Wild Goose café that a second wet clinic is now open at the Compass Centre run by the same team of professionals.
Jasmine Lawrie (BDP) & Stephen Pratt (Golden Key)
The second nomination was for a partnership between Golden Key and BDP, to deliver training to staff working in local cafes, bars and other venues, who are affected by anti-social behavior of customers in their workplaces. These difficult situations are often associated with poor mental health and / or substance misuse issues.
The training provides staff with drug and alcohol awareness and provides a psychological understanding of challenging behavior through learning about mental health, personality disorders and trauma informed approaches to understanding these.
Golden Key and BDP believe this is the first time this type of training has been designed for people working in the hospitality industry affected by anti-social behavior in their workplace, rather than for staff whose role is to support people with complex needs.
Based on the principles of Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE), staff are trained to work together reflectively when incidents occur, and how to take care of their own and each other’s wellbeing during an after incidents.
The first training session was given to staff from The Canteen at Hamilton House in Stokes Croft in November 2018.
Talking about the evening Jasmine Lawrie said:
I’m really honoured to be nominated, and especially in the category for partnership work. I think that in the current climate of austerity this collaborative work is especially important in the care of vulnerable people. The evening was lovely, the choir was superb and I nearly ate my weight in profiteroles! Thank you golden key.
