"I wanted to be part of this facility from the minute the Lord Advocate agreed to allow it" Staff at the Thistle share their thoughts on the service.

When did you first hear about Glasgow's Safer Drug Consumption Facility? What was your initial reaction?

I first heard about the prospects of a safer consumption facility when I was a peer naloxone volunteer in the north east of Glasgow. I was trained as a peer naloxone volunteer through the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) in 2015 after I had just completed 6 months treatment in Phoenix House. Prior to that, I was sleeping rough in Glasgow City Centre and during the Naloxone Training for Trainers (T4T) course I learned about the Canadian safer drug consumption facility and became interested in and hoped for a service like this in Glasgow as I knew people were injecting drugs in unsafe conditions in the city centre.

Were you hesitant to apply for a role within the service or did you immediately know it was the right fit for you? Why?

I wanted to be part of this facility from the minute the Lord Advocate agreed to allow it to happen, no hesitation came into it.

What aspect of working within The Thistle are you most looking forward to?

I want to support people where they are at in their life and if they choose to use substances, then I believe I have the skills and knowledge to teach them to do so as safe as possible.

What do you think are the biggest challenges that the service will face?

I am really excited to be working in this service, which will be like no other in the UK. I know all my colleagues are too. But although supported by the vast majority of people who work in this field, I think it will face criticism from some across the UK.

We'll be supporting some of the most vulnerable members of society, who inject drugs to relieve a pain that is invisible to us, and the biggest challenge we will face is getting to know them and the pain they are trying to relieve in the hopes of helping them cope with it in a way that is as harmless as possible.

What would you tell people who are more hesitant to Glasgow opening a service like this?

I would tell the people who are hesitant about the facility to come for a walk with me and see the harm caused by injecting away from home. I would tell them how it feels to sit in a cold, dark, car park alone injecting drugs knowing that it could possibly be the last thing you ever do and in doing that I think they would see how much of a positive effect a safer consumption room would make to not only the people who use the service, but Glasgow as a whole. I think that the misery that is visible every day in Glasgow City Centre could vanish if The Thistle is used to its full potential and with meeting the full team, I believe we will change people's mind very soon and they will see the benefits of the Thistle for themselves.

For more information about Glasgow's Safer Drug Consumption Room, The Thistle, visit: glasgowcity.hscp.scot/sdcf