Street Engagement Team: working to make Brixton safer
3 September 2025
Our Street Engagement Team is working with Lambeth Council in Brixton to make the area safer for everyone
For many people, Brixton is a vibrant and energetic part of London — but it is also a place where drug use and related street activity can affect the safety and wellbeing of the community. To respond to these challenges, Lambeth Council has commissioned Thames Reach’s Street Engagement Team.
The team’s role is to support people whose lives are most closely tied to street activity, helping them access treatment and other services, while also working with local businesses, the police, and community partners to make the area safer for everyone.
Meeting people where they are
The Street Engagement Team in Lambeth is commissioned by public health, which makes it quite different from most outreach services that are funded through housing or rough sleeping departments. The focus is on people whose lives are deeply tied to the street economy.
Rather than working with a set list of people, the team spends time in key locations where people are known to gather. These spots are just minutes away from the local treatment centre, which means that when someone is ready, support can be offered immediately.
Jamie Shovlin, who manages the team, explains:
“We spend most of our time in Brixton, because it’s one of the biggest hotspots in London. Our approach is about being visible in the right places every day. Sometimes success looks like getting someone through the treatment centre doors, but often it’s much slower — it can take 30 or 40 contacts just to reach a point where someone is ready to share their name with us. That’s still progress.”
The people the team engages with are often very resistant to services, having cycled in and out of treatment for years. Building trust takes persistence and patience. “Success isn’t always about immediate results,” Jamie says. “It can be about finding the right moment, the right conditions, for someone to feel ready. That’s why being present every day matters.”
Keeping Brixton safer through partnership
The work in Brixton goes beyond one-to-one engagement. The team plays a vital role in connecting with businesses, local police, and council departments to reduce anti-social behaviour linked to drug use and ensure a joined-up response.
“We’re not an enforcement team, but we work carefully alongside police and other partners,” Jamie says. “Clients often ask us if we’re undercover, so earning trust takes time. Word of mouth really matters — if one person has a positive experience with us, others are more likely to engage. That’s how we gradually open up pathways to support.”
Robert Goodwin, Programme Manager for Lambeth’s Combating Drugs Partnership, highlights the importance of this collaboration:
“Lambeth Council and its Combating Drugs Partnership are working to ensure more people than ever are offered access to drug and alcohol services, and we have seen a steady increase in the numbers in treatment over the last three years. The provision of harm reduction information is also crucial, especially targeting those who are not currently accessing services.
“The provision of the Thames Reach on-street engagement teams not only helps in our aim for more people into treatment but is also part of our commitment to responding to increasing concern about drug use in public and addressing substance misuse and anti-social behaviour across Lambeth. After the initial pilot, we committed to continuing with Thames Reach’s experienced staff out in the streets, building trust with rough sleepers and substance users, encouraging them to seek help, and offering harm reduction information.”
He added:
“Since being put in place, the on-street engagement team, police, treatment providers and the council’s public health and community safety teams have worked in partnership to increase referrals into treatment programmes and tackle drug and alcohol-related anti-social behaviour. There is more work to be done, but the partners within the Combating Drugs Partnership welcome the progress that has already been made in addressing these issues, and we are aware of the significant contributions being made by the Thames Reach on-street engagement team as part of a multi-agency partnership approach.”
As Jamie reflects: “A big part of our role is being the link between services and people who are otherwise very hard to reach. We’re here to let people know what support is available, and to walk with them on that first step. That benefits them, and it makes Brixton safer for everyone.”
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