University is a time for self-discovery and experiencing the world away from the eyes of parental figures. For many, this means indulging in the nightlife and party scene of a new city and potentially experimenting with alcohol and other drugs. Most often, this leads to minimal harm except a hungover lecture and a greasy takeaway the next day, but for some, alcohol and other drugs can have a range of negative effects on an individual’s life.
Our service The Drop is specifically aimed at students and others that attend club nights and festivals. The Drop is a harm reduction service that provides a variety of interventions to advise and support people around their alcohol and other drug use through informational campaigns and direct engagement at universities and venues.
Our latest campaign has just been rolled out into halls of residence around Bristol via digital display boards in communal areas. This campaign is tailored to engage with new students and let them know where they can find advice and support from a member of The Drop team. We are very grateful to Target Students, the company that manages the panels, for the opportunity to advertise our services and messages directly to students in their accommodation and for offering us an advertising spot free of charge. The beauty of these digital boards is that we can swap out campaign materials as we wish so we can develop our messaging as the university year progresses, targeting times of the year where alcohol and other drug use might be higher.
This campaign builds on BDP’s ongoing campaign of supporting students in Bristol, including access to free reagent drug testing kits to University of Bristol students and having our outreach team and materials at club nights and festivals throughout the city.
Here’s our top harm reduction tips that you should use every time you plan on using drugs, whether its coke, ketamine, MDM…
We had a fantastic evening at the Golden Key Great Practice Awards 2021 and are very proud to say that BDP staff picked up multiple awards on the night!
Golden Key is a Bristol-based organisation that works to improve services for Bristol citizens with the most complex needs. Every year they host the Golden Key Great Practice awards, which celebrate the individuals and organisations creating system change to improve outcomes for people with multiple disadvantages throughout services and healthcare in Bristol.
We are incredibly proud to say that we walked away with two awards; Darlene Wheeler and Nicky Auguste were awarded the Developing Trust Award and Jess Oke was awarded the Systems Change Hero Award.
Darlene and Nicky got the award for the part they played providing alcohol to physically dependant service users housed in emergency housing under the Everyone In initiative. The purpose was to engage and provide alcohol to alcohol-dependent service users to lower their risk of exposure to COVID due to their need to access alcohol to keep them from potentially fatal withdrawals.
Jess, our blood-borne viruses lead nurse, was awarded the Systems Change Hero Award for her unrelenting efforts to lower the barriers to testing and increase the numbers of people engaging with treatment following positive diagnosis to blood-borne viruses as Hepatitis C and HIV.
Massive thanks to everyone at Golden Key who organised the event and to everyone who voted; awards are not the reason we do the work that we do, but it’s great to have our staff’s hard work and dedication celebrated. After what has been a tough few years, we are especially proud of what our staff have achieved. They have not only learnt to cope in this new operational landscape but have actively innovated and created projects that improve our services. Looking forward, we are committed to tackling the barriers to accessing healthcare and support which are faced by the people we support.
On 27th November, A Celebration of life returns to St James church to bring people together from across Bristol and the South West to remember and celebrate the lives of friends or family members who they have lost through alcohol and other drugs. Although A Celebration of Life is held in a church, please be aware this is a none religious event and we warmly welcome people of any faith and none to attend.
This year’s event comes after the figures for drug-related deaths continue to rise year on year, going from 50.4 deaths per million to 52.3 deaths per million. This rise continues the figures upward trend and represents a tragic 60.9% increase since ten years ago in 2010.
These figures each represent a web of friends and family members who will be directly affected by the loss of someone close to them. A Celebration of Life aims to connect these people in a moment of shared celebration and remembrance for those no longer with us and give those who are grieving a feeling of collective support with other people with similar experiences.
“It gives an opportunity for those left behind to remember that their loved ones were not ‘just addicts’, but often beautiful, vulnerable people who, like us all, had so many other sides to their personality and lives. If you are attending for the first time, you can be sure that you will be listened to and understood by those around you. We all share the grief and often the burden of guilt that death through addiction can cause.”
A Celebration of Life is organised by Bereavement Through Addiction (BTA) a support network launched by two parents, Joan and Paul, who lost a child as a result of addiction in 2008. BTA’s monthly support group is here to help people make sense of their personal grief in a supportive, confidential and safe environment.
After a break last year due to the pandemic, A Celebration of Life returns to St James’ Priory for its 10th year. The event is free and open to everyone who would like to come. It will be led by Reverend Richard Pendlebury and feature a range of readings, memories and personal stories, and performances by the gasworks singers and Rising voices, Bristol’s recovery choir.
Contributions
We are looking for contributions both big and small for the event so if you would like to make a reading or simply just contribute a photograph to be included in the memorial presentation, please get in touch. In the past people have contributed all sorts of things like songs, poems, prayers or personal stories so if you feel inspired to share, please do so. To contribute, please email maggie.telfer@bdp.org.uk or call 0117 987 6006.
Last summer, our outreach team at BDP worked with colleagues from the Universities of Bath and Bristol to find out if people who inject drugs were being disproportionately affected by the virus, the fallout of lockdowns and social distancing. We wanted to know if service delivery could be adjusted to meet people’s needs under challenging circumstances. The work was funded by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute at the University of Bristol.
Maggie Telfer, our Chief Executive, says:
“As streets and many services emptied, LUCID-B was able to illuminate the real-time experiences of people who inject drugs. It is a fabulous example of research at its best, informing service delivery in unprecedented times.”
A key finding was how appreciative people were of the effort many services made to continue supporting them during the pandemic. Home delivery of sterile injecting equipment from BDP was welcomed, as was the move to collecting drug treatment medication from pharmacies less often.
However, people told the researchers that engaging with telephone and online services was challenging, describing them as “just not the same”. Many people who were street homeless or vulnerably housed did not have a phone or the internet to access services, and local initiatives to provide phones were vital.
“… it was clear that people who inject drugs were likely to experience a lot of disruption and potentially be much more vulnerable as a result of COVID-19. We are grateful to BDP for their invaluable support, which enabled us to connect rapidly with this population.”
“Our findings highlight the importance of tailoring support to people’s needs, including economic, housing and mental health support, and offering outreach to those who can’t access services remotely. At the same time, the changes brought about by the pandemic could present an opportunity to rethink policy and practice.”
Dr Jo Kesten, from NIHR ARC West and the lead author of the study, said:
“This study continues our longstanding relationship with BDP. At the start of the pandemic, no one knew what would happen if we made rapid policy and practice changes for people who inject drugs.”
“This study helped us learn about the experiences of people who inject drugs during this unprecedented time. Our findings can help inform decision-making about which changes to continue. We particularly hope it will contribute to policy decision-making about drug treatment medication.”
The ONS Deaths Related to Drug Poisoning in England and Wales: 2020 registrations was published earlier today (3 August 2021).
This is complicated data – showing deaths that were registered during a year and not when they happened but it does gives us year on year trends – and shows 3.8% more deaths were registered in 2020 in England and Wales than were in 2019 and sadly reporting the highest number of deaths – 4,561 people, since records began in 1993.
Deaths where cocaine featured rose by 9.7% between 2019 and 2020 and an increased proportion of deaths involved a benzodiazepines or the gabapentins – likely reflecting a real increase in web and street supplies which we have seen continue into 2021.
Two thirds of deaths reported in 2020 were due to drug misuse; with the highest numbers in our North East towns and a stark North/South divide.
In Bristol the ONS data shows a fall in deaths due to drug misuse – from 41 registered in 2019 to 38 in 2020 but when you look at other data in the report (age standardised mortality per 100,000 population) Bristol has a rate of 8.9 deaths compared with the England rate of 5 per 100,000. Here at BDP we are committed to widespread provision of Naloxone – with over 1,000 doses given out in 2020/21 – and with funding from the new ADDER programme will soon start providing the nasal form of Naloxone which is more likely to be carried.
Every death is one too many and the impact for those left behind hurts forever. Here at BDP we run a monthly support group for people who have lost a loved one to drugs or alcohol which has people from across and way beyond our region getting support: For more information about this telephone 0117 987 6000
Today marks World Hepatitis Day. World Hepatitis Day aims to bring awareness to hepatitis and to shine a light on the efforts being made to tackle hepatitis and other blood-borne viruses.
So what is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is a viral infection that affects the liver, causing it to swell and cause pain. There are 5 viruses that can cause viral hepatitis, but the two we generally see within our service users are hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a treatable blood-borne virus that can have serious health implications. Hep C is by far the most common form of hepatitis that we see here at BDP. Like other hepatitis infections, hepatitis C causes swelling to the liver, which can lead to liver damage. Chronic infections can lead to potentially fatal conditions such as liver cancer, cirrhosis and liver failure. Infection often occurs with limited or no symptoms, so it is important to get regularly tested if you are in a high-risk group.
Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood from an infected person. This includes sharing injecting equipment, sharing snorting tubes, sharing toothbrushes, scissors, razors, and unprotected sex. It is estimated that almost 90% of hepatitis C cases in the UK occur in people who inject drugs or have injected in the past.
Treatment of hepatitis C has moved along a lot from previous methods that had considerable adverse side effects. Hep C is now treated by a course of daily tablets that lasts 2 – 6 months.
Testing for hepatitis
Testing for hepatitis is straightforward and takes about five minutes. The most common testing method is by dry blood spot where a small sample of blood is collected from a finger. Your results will then be sent to you or provided to your BDP worker if you are already enrolled in one of our services. If positive, you will be contacted by hepatology to start treatment as soon as possible.
To get tested, please come to BDP’s Health and Harm Reduction Centre at 11 Brunswick Square, Bristol, BS2 8PE. Testing is completely free and confidential. For any questions around hepatitis and testing, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
