Newcastle Cathedral is hosting a TRANSFORM DRUGS event in response to the escalating number of drug deaths within the UK and the North East in particular. The event will be facilitated by Anyone’s Child: Families for Safer Drug Control, a campaign of the charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation.

A report published on 16 August 2022 in the British Medical Journal states that a fundamental reorientation in approach is urgently needed to stop the trend in UK drug-related deaths. Here in the North East, we are at the front line of this crisis, with the highest levels of drug-related deaths in England:

Newcastle’s annual drug-related death rate (13.2) is more than double the average for England (5.1) and four times higher than London, with 106 Newcastle residents dying from drugs last year.
In the North East, annual opiate-related deaths have doubled in the last decade, increasing to 173 deaths recorded in 2021.
Annual cocaine-related deaths in the North East have increased ten-fold, from 6 in 2011 to 66 in 2021.

(From the Office for National Statistics)

Stigma, shame and a lack of understanding still surround drug use, and we struggle as a society to have an informed and adult conversation around this contentious area. The Cathedral will offer a safe and neutral space in which people and services from different perspectives can gather to explore key themes and possible practical action.

Refreshments will be available at this event.

For more information, please contact Revd Jon Canessa via jon.canessa@newcastlecathedral.org.uk

RUNNING ORDER

6:30pm Food

FREE homemade bread and soup, hot drinks and quality cakes and bakes supplied by The Oswin Project’s Cafe16. Café16 is a partnership with Newcastle Cathedral, the Oswin Project and HMP Northumberland and makes delicious baked goods and drinks by offering job opportunities to prison leavers seeking a fresh start in life.

Peter Krykant’s re-purposed ambulance was the first overdose prevention centre (OPC) in the UK, (Glasgow). The ambulance will be parked outside the Cathedral, and is available for people to view as an exhibit (ie the OPC will not be in active use)

7:00pm Welcomes

Canon Peter Dobson, Newcastle Cathedral

Chi Onwura MP Newcastle upon Tyne (Central)

Jane Slater, Transform Drugs Policy Foundation

7:15pm Talks

Rev Jon Canessa, with local voices of lived experience

Anne-Marie Cockburn, Anyone’s Child Founding Member

Suzanne Sharkey, Anyone’s Child Campaigner

Neil Woods, Ex-undercover Police Officer

Daniel Ahmed, Pioneered Middlesborough’s first Diamorphine (Heroin) Assisted Treatment Clinic

8:15pm Q&A

An opportunity to discuss any points and to ask speakers to comment further

8:45pm Close

Please stay to take the opportunity to network

Transform Drugs Event @ Newcastle Cathedral