Over the last month, we have been tackling the issues of stigma surrounding substance use at a series of local events, including:
- Alcohol Awareness Day at James Paget University Hospital
- First Light Festival in Lowestoft
- Community Alcohol Partnership.
Throughout these events, we have delivered harm reduction advice around the county to many people and given out spikies and cup covers to help prevent spiking, unit measuring cups, and pens.
In June, we attended Lowestoft's First Light Festival in the rain, which didn’t stop our staff's enthusiasm for delivering harm reduction advice around alcoholism and drug addiction.
We handed out bottles of water to the festival-goers went to encourage them to stay hydrated when consuming alcohol and taking drugs. Both substances can cause dehydration.
Our drugs box contains lots of fake drugs which allows us to have conversations about the different substances while delivering harm-reduction advice. Finally, we highlighted the huge risks and impacts that synthetic drugs - known as nitazenes - are having on society.
Other than being soaking wet, our staff enjoyed the day out and we were very pleased with the advice delivered and feedback received.
During Alcohol Awareness Week, from 1 to 7 July, we attended two events.
The first was Alcohol Awareness Day at James Paget University Hospital, where we were joined by Turning Point, Anglia Care Trust, the Alcohol Care Team and the Police. The aim was to raise awareness of the impact alcohol has on individuals/groups in society and to deliver harm reduction advice to staff and patients.
We highlighted the importance of measuring units when drinking different types of alcohol, as they look very different, and making people fully aware of the government's recommended amount, which is 14 units per week.
We also attended the Community Alcohol Partnership event on Gorleston High Street.
There, we joined Norfolk Police to deliver harm reduction and raise awareness of street drinking in Norfolk and the impact it has on society. The event allowed us to use our "beer goggles" to represent how your vision affected when drinking and the impact it has on movement.
We will continue to work in partnership with Norfolk Police to deliver harm-reduction advice across the county to ensure the safety of our service users and members of society.