30 years of battling addiction

“Sometimes it just seems like we forget who we all are,” says John McInally, 43, a recovering alcoholic who woke up in the BRI two years ago weighing just seven stone. Sitting in a circle of other recovering addicts his face is still scared from whatever happened that day; he has no idea.

He’s speaking at the kind of group therapy session you’d expect at Bristol Drugs Project (BDP), who this year are celebrating 30 years.

Except there’s a twist.

Each of the people surrounding John are sharing their thoughts on the latest drama session they’ve all just had together – one of the more unusual recovery options available through the charity.

After the session is over and the participants drift off into St Paul’s in separate directions, I give John the chance to explain what he meant by his comments.

“Well, sometimes you just forget who you are when you’re all enjoying yourselves,” he says. “We aren’t here at a minor drama group really. All of us have got an addiction.You forget that. So I’ve gotta keep reminding myself sometimes.”

He talks briefly about his previous life street drinking in Lawrence Weston, before he leaves to catch a bus. “It was waking up and drinking, waking up and drinking. I didn’t even really eat. I would just go straight for the cider. I just didn’t care. Then I woke up in hospital and the nurse referred me to BDP.”

Karen, 52, stops to talk on her way out too. “It’s the only thing in life I really enjoy. Before I felt as if I was just existing rather than living,” she says.

“I just feel great to be part of something when normally I’m very much alone,” she adds as she breaks into tears and thanks me for listening. “It’s the heartbeat of my life at the moment.”

Finally, Craig, who is in his 40s, stops for two minutes. “I was on a conveyor belt,” he says of his previous life. “It was like groundhog day.” 

Speaking about the drama group he adds: “It’s like sandpaper – it smooths out all your rough edges.”

Maggie Telfer, middle left, gathers staff on the steps of BDP’s current location on Brunswick Square where they moved in 1996

Thirty years ago there was nothing remotely similar to a drama group to ease the anxiety for recovering addicts. In fact, there weren’t even any formal drug rehabilitation services.

BDP came onto the scene after central Government approved local funding to help tackle the problems. The charity started with one-to-one help and group therapy sessions and grew to include a needle exchange, drama group and now even a choir.

Treating hundreds of people a year at first, it now has thousands coming through its bright pink door on Brunswick Square and has support workers on hand in 47 GP surgeries around the city. Behind the pink door CEO Maggie Telfer, 57, says that although the services on offer may have changed, the ethos is still the same.

“Anyone can phone us or just knock on the door and speak to someone in person. At the core it’s about providing help that’s absolutely non-judgmental.

“We don’t pedal any particular theory about addiction or treatment. We use things that work with a good evidence base not just belief base. It’s our job to help people sort through what works for them.”

She says the drama group is just another “hook” for addicts to connect with people and address their problems and deep anxieties.

“You take away an addiction and you are left with a really big hole in your life. With a group like that you are surrounded by a lot of people looking to see if you are going to be OK or not.

“Often people don’t get offered opportunities until people realise they’re not OK. That’s the time when people need things to do and ignite an alternative passion and the drama group does that.”

She says, looking back at the last 30 years which she has spent at the helm, that BDP has become an integral part of the city.

BDP’s first location on Mark Lane when their doors opened in 1986

“Last year we had a fire alarm here and all evacuated onto the square. One of the firemen came to me and said his brother came to us a few years ago and now he’s got a wife, kids and jobs.

“We were out somewhere else a few weeks after and someone just stopped us. They wanted to come up and say that BDP saved their life.

“And then just last week some of our support workers resuscitated someone around the corner who was literally grey. They wouldn’t have pulled through without us.”

But it’s not all happy endings. Over the last year or two the Bristol has witnessed a spike in drug-related deaths, some triggered by unpredictable new legal highs.

“In July and August we had something like a death every other day,” Maggie says. “But in the last year, the people who work here would have saved a dozen or so lives.”

She adds: “While it has been absolutely enjoyable 30 years, at the same time it can be extraordinarily tragic, especially when lives are lost.

“But over our time we’ve seen tens of thousands of people. I think we’ve played a part in helping a very large slice of Bristol’s population to find help for them to get on with the rest of their lives.”

Staff at BDP in 1992

Treating Bristol: 30 years of drugs in Bristol:

1986 – Bristol Drugs Project opens, treating people mainly for problems with prescription drugs like valium and ativan and also amphetamine sulphate, known as speed.

1992 – Heroin supply is expanded, with bristol becoming a major transit hub.

1996 – The slow decline of heroin use begins.

1999 – Large markets emerge for crack cocaine, now commonly sold with heroin.

2006 – Bristol becomes a hotspot for ketamine which causes urinary tract problems. The problems are so bad in Bristol, experts coin the term the “Bristol bladder”.

2010 – Mephadrone, also known as M-Cat, becomes readily available on the internet before it is banned.

2014 – Legal highs continue to emerge, including synthesised cannabis Spice which was recognised as a cause of death and a number of seizures in 2015.

Meet the people behind the scenes at the Bristol Drugs Project