My colleague Maggie Telfer, who has died aged 63 after a short illness, was a fierce and relentless campaigner for health equality in Bristol and beyond.
In 1985, against the backdrop of a growing heroin crisis, Maggie helped to found Bristol Drugs Project (BDP), which opened its doors the following year. The charity grew under her leadership from a team of five to more than 80 employees today, with a group of dedicated volunteers and a vibrant trainee programme.
As our CEO, Maggie was motivated to reduce stigma and improve health for individuals and families, through passionately held values of social justice and human rights, which she instilled in her staff. She opened one of the UK’s first needle exchanges; offered drugs services for young people where there were none; and steered heroin treatment into primary care. BDP now has workers in almost every health centre in Bristol, and is heralded as an example of best practice nationally.
Maggie ensured services changed as drug and alcohol patterns changed, launching a harm reduction outreach service to women in street sex work in the early days, visiting squats as ketamine use surged in the early 2000s and pioneering outreach in Bristol’s nightlife and festival scene.
In the 1990s, she helped establish the first needle exchange in sub-Saharan Africa – the Omari Project, in Kenya – which remains a thriving rehabilitation centre today.
Maggie championed research in developing the evidence base for best practice, making a significant contribution through more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. In 2007 she was appointed OBE for her contribution to drug and alcohol services.
Maggie was born in Corbridge, Northumberland, to Jim, a farm labourer, and Ethel (nee Featherstone), and, with her younger sister, Sue, had a rural upbringing in nearby Hedley on the Hill. She attended Wearside grammar school, Durham, and then studied history and Russian studies at Swansea University, where she met Richard Jones, who became her partner.
After graduating in 1980, Maggie managed the Swansea Accommodation for the Single Homeless night shelter. Close by was the South Wales Evening Post building, where Richard worked as a journalist. Together they moved to Bristol when Maggie got involved in the founding of BDP.
Maggie was a lifelong vegetarian, excellent cook, and lover of trees, her family and dogs. She climbed the stairs to her office until the very end to continue her work, believing that with compassion, effort and optimism, the lives of individuals and families affected by substance use could be transformed.
She is survived by Richard and their children, Caitlin and Mena, and by her sister, Sue.
