NNEF 2022-23 AGM
2022-23 Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 28th February, 6pm (Online) This meeting was held via Zoom.
PRESENT:
Philippe Bonnet (Chair), Andrew Preston, Christopher Rintoul, Colin Campbell, David Estabrook, Deborah Moores, Helen Wilks, James Pierce, Jamie Bridge, Jon Findlay, John Fox, Judith Yates, Karen Angier-Brown, Mark Roberts, Mat Southwell, Monique Tomlinson, Nigel Brunsdon, Sue Whelan
Welcome:
Philippe Bonnet, NNEF Chair, opened the meeting and thanked the participants for joining.
Approval of the minutes of the last AGM (7th December 2020):
The minutes of the last AGM, on 2nd December 2021, were approved. There was no further progress reported in terms of website sponsorship, nor the creation of a new ‘Creative Officer’ role. The idea to create a new NSP database using supplier data was pursued, but was eventually deemed unworkable.
Introduction to the NNEF:
Nigel Brunsdon, NNEF Deputy Chair, provided a brief history of the NNEF – which has been operating for several decades, although there is little institutional memory: the earliest meeting documented on the website is 2004, although Andrew Preston recalled being at an NNEF meeting as early as around 1991 in Nottingham. Right now, we have 840 members, and this has been growing steadily in recent years. Everyone associated with NNEF is a volunteer, and fundraising has been an elusive part of the work for a while now.
In the earlier days, the NNEF held meetings in small rooms or in the margins of other events and conferences. More recently, we ran annual one-day conferences instead. We also held a training event a few years ago, which worked well but was quite expensive to deliver. Obviously, we have not been able to do anything face-to-face since the pandemic, and are keen to get back to meeting properly again.
Outside of the meetings, other NNEF activities in recent years included the Freedom of Information project for NSP access and naloxone alongside Release, and the development of the mystery shopper materials and protocols. All of this against a backdrop of nearly a decade of a recovery agenda, with a whole new generation of workers in settings where harm reduction is more marginalised, there is inadequate training on NSP delivery and safer injecting, etc. Services are being reduced nationwide, and that things like limits on equipment have re-emerged. There is a lot that we need to do, and we need a strong Planning Committee in order to deliver.
Discussion on NNEF activities and priorities
Philippe then provided an overview of current NNEF plans and activities, and the urgent need for more voices to speak up against the drop in service access and quality in England. The mystery project still offers potential to document what is happening up and down the country, even though we can pre-empt what the results will be. And the Hepatitis C Trust (where Philippe works) is well placed to support this work as they have access to hundreds of peers who are keen to help up and down the country. There is a possibility of funding from HSE, which Jamie and Philippe will pursue.
It was also highlighted that the challenges we face in the UK are unique to the country, as reports and data from across the rest of Europe do not show the same drops in coverage – or even positive shifts and new models through the pandemic. Instead, the UK seems to have decided that harm reduction wasn’t an essential service during this time – and that will be seen in the rates if HIV etc. Yet there is excellent experience, such as in Bath, of the value of re-engaging people and improving NSPs. There was also discussion about the value of decoupling harm reduction and treatment services “in order to recover from the recovery era” as one participant put it. Re-invest in NSP and harm reduction as a speciality – and there is an important role for the NNEF in that. This could even help re-open or progress the long-standing discussions about a DCR in the UK. Other participants raised the challenge of people who move around the country on a contiguous basis, going from city to city and never building up the ideal relationships with any service of service worker – especially where there are barriers to walking into a service and accessing NSP. It was also noted that several providers are re-investing in harm reduction training for their staff, which was positive.
Action: Philippe and Jamie to progress with mystery shopper funding proposal for HSE.
Selection of the NNEF Planning Group:
The current Planning Group is: Philippe Bonnet (Chair), Nigel Brunsdon (Deputy Chair), Jamie Bridge (Deputy Chair), Helen Wilks (Treasurer), Andrew Preston, Aurielle Ballin, Cliff Askey, Craig Hazlett, Dave Estabrook, Emma Stowe, James Pierce, Jane Askey, Jasmin Mulrooney, John Fox, Judith Yates, Lisa Byrne, Mark Tudor, Mercy Nimako, Paddy Noonan, Steve Bliss, Stuart Haste, Tim-Jake Gluckman, and Una King. Several colleagues volunteered to join or continue on the Planning Group for 2023.
Action: Philippe to email all participants and NNEF members to confirm who will be on Planning Group.
Election of NNEF Officers:
Phillipe (Chair), Nigel (Deputy Chair) and Helen (Treasurer) confirmed their willingness to continue in the roles for 2023, and this was agreed. Jamie will stand down as Deputy Chair, due to not having enough time for the role, but will stay on in the Planning Committee. James Pierce put himself forward for the Deputy Chair role, which was also welcomed and agreed.
Action: Nigel to update the website with the new Officers and Planning Group (as well as these minutes).
Presentation of the NNEF accounts and finances
Helen shared the latest NNEF account transactions on the screen, demonstrating that there had been no new transactions since September 2021 due to the lack of activity. The NNEF continues to have a balance in our account sufficient to run one (small) face-to-face meeting without any outside support – which has always really been the aim.
Any other business from NNEF members:
The prospects for another face-to-face meeting were discussed, with Birmingham again highlighted as a pretty central and accessible location. There had been talk about venues in London, and more training events, but the pandemic ended those really. An additional consideration is holding side events at other events and conferences – and the HIT conferences, DDN events and future Cranstoun Social Justice Conferences were all mentioned. The downside is how many of the people we want to engage, (new) frontline workers, really get to go to these events? Often, a free NNEF event is the only one they can attend. There was also discussion of how service providers could help fund such events, especially if they provide training to their workers and others.
Action: Planning Group to reconvene in a few months to explore the options for future meetings.
One other issue raised was the name ‘National Needle Exchange Forum’, as it uses an old term which has largely been replaced now by ‘needle and syringe programmes’ (to avoid any suggestion that provision should only be an exchange). It was widely agreed that the name should be updated to reflect the right term, alongside something on the website that explains the history and the positive reasons behind the name change. It will also be a nice opportunity to reignite the discussions and the NNEF itself.
Action: Planning Group to also take this point forward in 2023.