Questions About Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Bristol
by Paul Hazelden

Background

On 25 March 2009, Graham Donald (the chair of the board of Crisis Centre Ministries) wrote to our MP, Stephen Williams, about some of the problems experienced by drug addicts and alcoholics in Bristol when trying to access treatment.

A meeting was arranged for 25 April 2009. Also present at the meeting with Stephen Williams MP and Graham Donald were Paul Hazelden (the CCM General Manager) and Alan Goddard (the CCM Drop-in Centre Manager).

The notes from the meeting were made available to several interested parties, and produced some discussion at a few public meetings.

CCM was contacted by Safer Bristol, who suggested that a joint meeting would help CCM distinguish between fact and opinion. This meeting eventually took place on 5 June 2009. It clarified several points of detail, but did not correct any substantive detail raised in the first meeting with Stephen Williams.

Another follow-up meeting was anticipated, but as of January 2010, this has yet to take place.

Meeting Notes

The notes from the first meeting were subsequently written up in a slightly fuller and more structured form, in order to assist future discussions.

• Notes from the meeting with Stephen Williams, 25 April 2009.
• (The original notes from the meeting on 25 April, as initially circulated.)
• Notes from the meeting with Safer Bristol, 5 June 2009.