Here at Maggs, we offer various services to help the homeless and vulnerable. We want to showcase what we get up to by putting together a day in the life of each of our departments and how your donations help offer unique, tailored support.
The fifth instalment in our ‘Day in the Life’ series is from Jenny, one of our countywide Harm Reduction Workers, whose role is to engage people with services to address substance misuse and any health-related issue associated with substance dependency.
Firstly, what is ‘Harm Reduction?
In a nutshell, we help people who use substances to do so safely.
We do this by providing needle exchange to ensure that people are using clean needles every time rather than sharing or reusing them and can advise on injecting techniques. We give out Naloxone and train people to use it so that if they or anyone they are with overdose on opioids they can administer the Naloxone and save their life. We provide BBV testing to check whether our service users have any blood-borne viruses, and then organise appropriate treatment for them if necessary. We also give advice and support on any other issues related to substance use.
We offer person-centred support, which enables us to meet people where they are in their journey. Unlike many other services, we don’t require regular engagement to access our support. We don’t expect anyone to begin recovery work if that isn’t what they want, although we will happily support them into recovery if they feel ready and able to do so.
We will also physically meet service users in a place that works for them, whether that is at one of our drop-ins, at their home, in the town centre, or in a tent in the middle of some bushes! We work across the county to reduce harm for as many people as possible.
My daily diary:
9:00am: My first task is to pop into the office to check emails and stock up on my supplies of clean works and Naloxone, before heading off to meet a service user who has asked to be supported to an appointment.
10:00am: The service user I am supporting isn’t at our agreed meeting place, and as they don’t have a phone or an address, finding them will not be easy!
I head off to look at some places where we often see our service users and luckily the person I am after is there! He doesn’t want to go to his appointment but after chatting about his reasons for not wanting to go and reassuring him that I will be there throughout, he agrees to come with me.
The appointment goes well and we are able to arrange another appointment there and then, which we plan for a time when I will be able to support him again at his request.
11:00am: I attend one of our Harm Reduction drop-ins which provides a safe space for individuals to come to talk about their substance use and get support in a friendly place, where they can have a cup of tea, and biscuit and feel relaxed.
Asking for help can be very daunting, and the drop-ins allow people to get to know the team in a relaxed way, which helps them to build trust in us and feel at ease with finally opening up. We strive to be empathetic and non-judgemental with everyone.
Today the drop-in has been really busy with some regulars and some new service users, wanting help with GP appointments, clean works and Naloxone, and to chat about what is going on with them. The homeless nurse joined us at today’s drop-in which meant that many of our service users could have a checkover of their general health, and particularly of things like checking injecting sites for abscesses and infections.
Other agencies come to our drop-ins to provide support in areas outside of our remit, for example with housing. We have good relationships with many other agencies such as local council housing teams, the police, other homeless charities, and health providers, which enables us to provide people with the best support possible.
2:00pm: We head off to do some outreach around the town centre. We meet up with service users who didn’t come to the drop-in, catching up with them and providing clean works along with food and drinks as it can be difficult to access enough food when living on the street. There was someone there who we had never met who seemed a bit wary of us but our regulars all assured them that we could be trusted! She decided that she was happy to give us some information, and ended up very relieved that she had met us as she was desperate to get some support.
We then head to a wooded area where we have been told that a couple of tents have been pitched and meet with the people that are staying there. They are all already known to us and we chat to them about staying safe in that out-of-the-way location, and then we confirm with the council that we have found the individuals there.
4:00pm: The team and I head back to Worcester to complete some admin, making sure notes are up to date on everything that I’ve done today.
Today I worked 9-5 but usually, our work hours vary outside of usual office hours to ensure we engage with as many people as possible who need our services. We each conduct early outreach looking for rough sleepers who get up and hide away before the general public starts their day, and work late when necessary, either as planned outreach or an evening drop-in at a soup kitchen, or unplanned when we spend longer with a service user in need.
No two days are the same in this job, and it can be stressful and emotionally exhausting. However, it is so much fun, and I love meeting people and building relationships with those who are often forgotten or looked down on.
We also have an amazing, supportive team here at Maggs, to provide help when times are hard and to celebrate when things go well. I can’t imagine a more rewarding job!
