For a charity to continue for almost four decades is a triumph in itself but the survival of Bristol Drugs Project (BDP) is far from the organisation's only achievement. With the recent passing of Maggie Telfer - the co-founder of BDP - an event was organised to celebrate her life, which over the past 37 years became dedicated to the Bristol charity she helped to build.
Hundreds of people gathered in St Georges in an event to celebrate Maggie’s life, who died in January. Alongside speeches there were performances from the recovery choir and orchestra, an initiative set up by the charity to support people after they had overcome drug and alcohol addiction.
Maggie, was in her mid-20s when she and a group of young probation officers working in Bristol realised the cycle of addiction, crime and prison would only be broken if addicts were treated with compassion rather than punishment.
