The National Harm Reduction Summit hosted by BDP and the Hepatitis C Trust
About this Event
Hosted by Bristol Drugs Project (BDP) and the Hepatitis C Trust, and delivered in partnership with the UK Health Security Agency and the NHS, the summit offers a valuable opportunity to examine the current landscape of national harm reduction efforts.
Marking 40 years of BDP’s outstanding harm reduction work, this two-day event will bring together practitioners, peers, researchers, policy shapers, and community organisations committed to improving the health, rights, and wellbeing of people who use drugs.
Utilising a public health approach, we will explore innovative and evidence‑based models, current political and policy considerations, and how we can shape the future of harm reduction approaches and treatment delivery across the UK.
Who should attend?
· Harm reduction workers and volunteers
· Health and social care professionals
· Commissioners and policymakers
· Peer workers and people with lived and living experience
· Researchers and academics
· Charities, community organisations, and outreach teams
· Anyone passionate about reducing drug-related harm and improving health equity
Key Outcomes:
- Understand the current state of harm reduction across the UK, including gaps, variation, and inequalities.
- Explore how lived experience and local insight can drive accountability and more equitable service design.
- Share best practice in Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP), naloxone, peer-led outreach, and healthcare integration.
- Network and build connections with regional and national organisations
- Define what effective, accessible, person-centred harm reduction services should look like.
- Assess emerging public health risks, including reduced NSP access, changing drug markets, and rising overdose risk, and injecting related harms.
- Identify practical strategies to prevent BBV transmission and consider the impact of these changes on progress towards the UK’s 2030 BBV elimination targets.
- Explore how to scale up evidence-based interventions and respond to threats such as synthetic opioids.
- Learn from services successfully engaging underserved communities through peer-led and community-based approaches.
- Examine how better integration with wider healthcare can improve early intervention, continuity of care, and long-term outcomes.
- Identify priorities for a more resilient, responsive, and sustainable harm reduction system.
Locations
Thursday, Day 1: M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Rd, Bristol, BS1 4RN
Friday, Day 2: Bristol Beacon, Trenchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR
Day 1 , M Shed
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM
Registration
🕑: 09:30 AM - 11:05 AM
Welcome and Scene Setting
Info: Introduction to harm reduction policy and service delivery in the UK and worldwide.
Speakers include: Deb Hussey (Exchange Supplies), Catherine Cook (Harm Reduction International), Monica Desai (UKHSA), Cara Levan (Anyone’s Child). More to be confirmed.
🕑: 11:05 AM - 11:25 AM
Break
🕑: 11:25 AM - 12:55 PM
Needle and Syringe Programmes
Info: Presentations and discussion on the state of play of needle and syringe programmes in the UK – including geographical coverage and what works.
Speakers include: Philippe Bonnet (The Hepatitis C Trust), Farah Hart and Mark Napier (Greater London Authority), John Campbell (WAND), Reg Straub (The Hepatitis C Trust), Chelsea Shover (University of Bristol)
🕑: 12:55 PM - 01:40 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:40 PM - 01:55 PM
Maggie’s session
Info: A dedicated talking slot, open to pitches from across the community. This slot has been created in honour of BDP’s late CEO, Maggie Telfer, whose legacy lives on in the voices and work of the people she championed.
🕑: 01:55 PM - 02:10 PM
TBC
🕑: 02:10 PM - 03:10 PM
LGBTQ+
Info: Session exploring how harm reduction services can better meet the needs of LGBTQ+ communities.
Speakers include: Lea Korsikova (Safe Only CIC), Project 4T, Clyne Hamilton-Davies (Queen Mary, University of London). More to be confirmed.
🕑: 03:10 PM - 03:30 PM
Break
🕑: 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Stimulants
Info: Insight on the needs of stimulants users, what services we can offer them, and the legal and policy landscape surrounding safe inhalation pipe provision (SIPPs).
Speakers include: Magdalena Harris (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London), Mark Roberts (The Hepatitis C Trust), Niamh Eastwood (Release). More to be confirmed.
🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Close
Day 2, Bristol Beacon
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM
Registration
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:40 AM
Welcome and Harm Reduction Services
Info: Scene setting for Day 2 and presentations on commissioning harm reduction services.
Speakers include: Louise Hansford (BDP), Al Flowers (Birmingham City Council & HREX), Peter Furling (Change Grow Live)
🕑: 10:40 AM - 11:05 AM
Break
🕑: 11:05 AM - 12:40 PM
Women
Info: Session exploring the barriers women face in accessing harm reduction services and how programmes can better meet their needs.
Speakers include: Julia Sheehan (Hepatitis C Trust), Grace Sumner (Women’s Inclusion Health Collective). More to be confirmed.
🕑: 12:40 PM - 01:25 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:25 PM - 02:55 PM
TBC
🕑: 02:55 PM - 03:15 PM
Break
🕑: 03:15 PM - 04:05 PM
Peer Research
Info: Presentations on the growing role of peer research in harm reduction, highlighting how involving people with lived experience can improve the quality, relevance and impact of research.
Speakers include: Mat Southwell (Coact), Rebecca Bulmer (The Hepatitis C Trust), Isabelle Boisvert. More to be confirmed.
🕑: 04:05 PM - 05:00 PM
The Future of Harm Reduction, BDP’s 40th Birthday, and Close
Info: Speakers include: Youth Rise, Lydia Plant (BDP).
Where is it happening?
GBP 0.00 to GBP 110.00
