Although it's been 8 years since my son Ben died from a drug overdose, time hasn't lessened the pain, and I've had to accept that it never will. Grief isn't a linear path or one with a destination; it is a lifelong journey, and I've had to learn how to live with it beside [...]
By Katie Gibbs On the 23rd June in 34-degree heat, a committed group of activists, charity workers, and bereaved families attended the 11th annual lobby of Parliament to demand drug policy reform that is rooted in evidence and fairness. 11 years ago, Anyone's Child handed a letter to the then-Prime Minister, David Cameron, promising [...]
By Matt Hanson On a sunny Yorkshire afternoon, I made the short trip from Leeds to Doncaster for the Take Ketamine Seriously event at Doncaster's Little Theatre, organised as a joint event by Project 6, Transform Drug Policy Foundation and Anyone's Child: Families For Safer Drug Control. Having come into contact with ketamine in my [...]
Alison Bedford-Russell lost her son George to an accidental overdose in 2016. A decade later, as part of our Take: Drugs Seriously events that we run around the country, she hosted Bromsgrove: Take Drugs Seriously, bringing the local community together, families, health professionals, service providers, and the local Conservative MP, Bradley Thomas to address [...]
My understanding, like many people’s, of overdose prevention centres (OPCs) or drug consumption rooms (DCRs) was completely theoretical, limited to things I had read about and seen online. An OPC/DCR is a healthcare facility where people can consume drugs while supervised, rather than on the streets or in risky and unhygienic conditions. It allows [...]
Families who have lost loved ones do not want more political theatre. We want fewer funerals. Over the past few weeks, the Labour Party and the Prime Minister have repeatedly attacked the Green Party over its call to legally control and regulate the drug market. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer described the [...]
I was on a Teams call at work when Sandra’s name came up on my phone. There was nothing particularly unusual about that. Sandra was my brother’s key worker from Haringey council, so it would usually be something to do with the stuff of his life – a court appearance, an unpaid [...]
Experts and Families Call for Legal Control and Regulation in Leicester Hansom Hall, a Grade II listed landmark built in 1845 and known as the circular "Pork Pie Chapel," is named after its architect, Joseph Hansom. Hansom was a figure of great contrasts: famed for inventing the ubiquitous horse-drawn cab and designing monumental [...]
Once again I read the heart-breaking news of drug deaths in England and Wales rising to record levels. Behind each figure in these latest statistics was a real person, a person who once had hopes and dreams - as did my son. We need the government to be bolder and prioritize the safety of [...]
At Anyone’s Child, we work to engage politicians from across the political spectrum, encouraging cooperation in our pursuit of more humane, effective, and evidence-led drug policy. No matter what party we support, we can all agree that we want to get drugs under control and protect young people. This goal has never been more [...]
