Worcestershire homeless charity Maggs Day Centre has expanded its services by launching a harm reduction drop-in service in Evesham.

As part of their Harm Reduction service, the team will offer clean works, Naxolone provision and training, BBV testing and a safe space to talk about alcohol and substance use for anyone in the community who needs it.

The drop-in will run every Tuesday between 1pm and 3pm at Wallace House community centre where an outreach team is already based. It intends to offer a safe place for people to use the services or have a simple chat.

The Harm Reduction team partners with homelessness, health providers, and other relevant agencies to engage people with services to address substance misuse and any health-related issue associated with substance dependency.

The team goes anywhere that a person experiencing homelessness needs support, provides various support, and works collaboratively to break down barriers to develop innovative and robust pathways to engage people and support service users to adopt safer practices and reduce harm.

Sian Purton, Wallace House Centre Manager, said: "Evesham is a lovely town with very community-minded residents.

"There are members of our community who experience homelessness and substance issues and feel like they have nowhere to turn.

"Having the Maggs Team here is excellent because the community know that these highly trained, knowledgeable and kind people are at Wallace House Community Centre and will support with an array of needs, including support with filling out forms, attending appointments, clothes, food, substance and alcohol support, housing support, the list really does go on!"

Maggs works throughout Worcestershire and hosts two-day centres in Worcester and Malvern alongside four properties through the accommodation project, which temporarily houses rough sleepers and provides them with tailored support to further their journey.

The charity also has several specialist teams that work with service users, including an intensive transition support team for complex needs and an Outreach team, which are also based in Wallace House every Tuesday and Thursday 1pm – 3pm.

Alongside our support workers who work in the day centres to support service users and volunteers, which the charity relies on to maintain its high service levels. For more information, please visit www.maggsdaycentre.co.uk