Latest news with #PeterKrykant
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Peter Krykant obituary
The drugs policy campaigner Peter Krykant, who has died suddenly aged 48, advanced the cause of the harm reduction movement through a transformative act of civil disobedience. Fitting out a van as a mobile safer drug consumption space and making it available to Glasgow's most vulnerable homeless addicts broke the law. And it also – eventually – broke the stalemate around UK drugs policy, propelled Scotland's drug deaths crisis further up the political agenda and, most importantly, saved lives. Krykant's law-breaking plan coalesced in February 2020 after he attended what he saw as another talking shop – a Scottish government conference focused on drug deaths, which took place 24 hours before a UK government summit on the same subject, at the same Glasgow venue. It seemed to him a ludicrous show of escalating tensions between the two administrations. 'The conferences were the final straw, and the fact that [a drug consumption room pilot] is being used as a political football,' he told the Guardian a week later. 'As a person who went through my own trauma – drug use and street homelessness issues many years ago – I cannot stand back.' Within days of announcing his plan to purchase a vehicle and customise it as a mobile safer-injecting suite, Krykant had raised more than £2,000. He was immediately sacked from his job as an HIV outreach worker at the charity Waverley Care. Undeterred by the looming global Covid pandemic, Krykant recognised that, as services contracted, the homeless drug users who congregated around Trongate in Glasgow were even more in need. So he struck out in the midst of lockdown, first in a minibus nicknamed 'the Tank' and later in a converted ambulance, providing clean water, needles and swabs, as well as supplies of naloxone, the potentially life-saving drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdose. Rules included using your own drugs, and agreeing to an overdose intervention if needed. Writing in the Guardian, Krykant later explained: 'Overdose prevention services are an internationally recognised way of reducing drug-related harms. It benefits everyone by supporting the most vulnerable and saving taxpayers' money on ambulance callouts, hospital admissions and council clean-up teams.' The local police largely tolerated his activity, although he was charged in October 2020 for obstructing officers attempting to search his van – the charges were later dropped. He continued operating until May 2021. More than 1,000 injections were supervised, and nine overdoses reversed. 'It was the trust people had in Peter, the cup of tea and the Mars bar, that really helped them and is hard to quantify,' said the MSP Paul Sweeney, who became a close friend when the pair volunteered together at the van. 'He proved all the naysayers and the procrastinators wrong. He never said it was a silver bullet but Peter knew firsthand the particular risks for people who inject on the street and saw that this intervention could directly save lives.' Krykant was always insistent that addiction should be understood in the wider context of poverty and inequality, a message he took around the doorsteps of his local Holyrood constituency of Falkirk East when he stood for the Scottish parliament elections in May 2021. A Guardian film, which followed his campaign, captures his younger son, aglow with pride, explaining to the producers: 'I've got three reasons you should vote for my dad: because he's honest, reliable and he listens to people's suggestions.' But the responsibility he evidently carried for every individual he helped, the memories they stirred of his own trauma as well as escalating public scrutiny, took their toll and Krykant relapsed. He had talked openly about darker currents in his childhood in the village of Maddiston, near Falkirk; trauma and sexual abuse that would lead him to start taking drugs when he was 11. He left school with no formal qualifications, and by his late teens he was sleeping rough and injecting heroin. But eventually he found support to live drug-free, and worked successfully in sales for over a decade, first in Brighton, and later returning north of the border, where he subsequently trained as an addiction support worker. During this time he married and started a family, taking market research work to fit around caring for his two young sons. Krykant had continued his advocacy work in recent years, passing the van on to the Transform Drug Policy Foundation and embarking on a tour across the UK. Lately he worked at the harm reduction charity Cranstoun, where he developed an overdose response app called BuddyUp and represented the organisation at events around the world. When the UK's first legal drug consumption room, the Thistle, opened its doors in Glasgow this January, there were many who drew a direct line from his minibus to its airy vestibule. Others felt his contribution had been sidelined to make way for more mainstream voices, or that his vulnerabilities had been exploited by those who desired the frisson of his lived experience for their campaigns. This winter, say friends, Krykant found himself at his lowest ebb. His marriage had collapsed, he had lost his job and he was struggling to support himself, worrying about the impact this had on his sons. Martin Powell, who drove the van on its UK tour, said: 'He was the catalyst and without him we might still be waiting. Without question there are people alive today who would not be without Peter Krykant. It's an absolute tragedy that he isn't one of them.' Krykant is survived by his sons. Peter Krykant, campaigner, born 13 November 1976; died 9 June 2025
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- General
- Glasgow Times
ABC owners brand Mack rebuild a 'pastiche' in war of words
The owners said it is now 'essentially a historical masonry shell now best described as a monument or a fragile historical structure'. A row has broken out between the Art School and the owners behind the redevelopment plan for the ABC site, which was destroyed during the second Mackintosh fire. Last week, the Glasgow Times revealed how the School of Art said the plans for student accommodation at the ABC on Sauchiehall Street put the rebuild of the Mack at 'substantial risk'. READ NEXT: Update on needle dumping reports since drug consumption room opened The ABC owners have now hit back, warning of legal action if any attempts to relax building control standards are given to the Art School over the Mack. They said the rebuild is a new build and the Art School's concerns about their plan is over loss of light to rooms which no longer exist. A statement issued on behalf of the ABC site owners, said: 'Any attempt to recreate or reconstruct a mock-up of the original Mackintosh building would in essence be reconstructing an entirely new building, with perhaps using what remains of the external masonry skin as a cosmetic wrap around an entirely new building structure and fabric within.' (Image: Newsquest) They are insisting 'all the health safety requirements of the Building Regulations are strictly applied in a fair and transparent manner, particularly in regard to fire safety … to help prevent a repeat of such a catastrophic events.' It states: 'The owners will be insisting that all the health safety requirements of the Building Regulations are strictly applied in a fair and transparent manner, particularly in regard to fire safety, to any redevelopment proposals that might be made in the future for any of these sites in order to help prevent a repeat of such a catastrophic events." READ NEXT:Peter Krykant was brave enough to take risks because he wanted to save lives The owners said objections to its plans are not relevant as the building no longer exists and has not done so in any meaningful operational way since 2014. It stated: 'Any reinstatement of the interior will not be a Mackintosh interior by any stretch of the imagination, but rather a pastiche attempt at best to imitate the Mackintosh interior.' (Image: Newsquest) The 02 ABC owners have been highly critical of the Art School in a lengthy statement they have now made public and said they will consider legal action if necessary to protect their assets. It said: 'If the Council or Ministers should decide to arbitrarily attempt to reduce or relax any regulatory standard regarding fire safety to any of the redeveloped remnants of buildings or structures on these sites then they will have no hesitation on seeking legal recourse and will be instructing their lawyers to seek leave to have any such decision judicially reviewed by the Scottish Courts.' A spokesperson for Glasgow School of Art said: 'Both the redeveloped ABC site and the Mackintosh Building will be subject to current building standards regulations.'
Glasgow Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Rennie Mackintosh-designed Glasgow school sale approved
The Bishops' Conference of Scotland will now be able to buy the old Martyrs' School on Parson Street in a deal worth £250,000. Councillors, who backed the proposal at a meeting today (Thursday), were told the purchasers intend to invest £1.75m into the restoration of the A-listed property. READ NEXT:Peter Krykant was brave enough to take risks because he wanted to save lives This will help to create a 'public museum of Scottish Catholic archives to house artifacts and artworks'. Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, convener for housing and development, said the deal showed the council has the 'best will and intentions' for heritage buildings in the city. It also has 'the ability to find uses for these buildings that help to preserve them for future generations of Glasgow', Cllr Kelly added. Approving the sale to the Bishops' Conference of Scotland was recommended despite it not being the highest offer received. Cllr Kelly said: 'Understandably the heritage of Glasgow is really important to all of us, and lots of other people in the city. There was a bit of consternation around this when it was first mooted that it was going to be marketed. 'The intention of the council was always to find a custodian for the building who could give it the care and attention it required and, most importantly, find a productive use for it. 'If we were just looking to make a quick buck, the recommendations in this paper would have been different. 'It would have resulted in a slightly higher capital receipt for the council, but this is the one we believe best served the purpose of maintaining public access and doing the best for the building.' READ NEXT: 'We're a big men's shed' says Apprentice Boys of Derry A council report added the unconditional offer of £250,000 has the 'benefit of certainty, being a cash offer and not being subject to any suspensive conditions'. The three-storey school building was designed for the School Board of Glasgow by Charles Rennie Mackintosh while he was an assistant at architectural firm Honeyman and Keppie. It was completed in 1898. It is of 'considerable architectural and cultural significance, being one of the earlier buildings attributed to Mackintosh', the council report added. Used as a school and college until the early 1970s, the building has since been an arts centre and then council offices. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland's plan for the property also includes some office space, and 'proposes to link the subject to their existing ownership on the opposite side of the street' (St Mungo's RC Church). A council official said the museum, understood to be on the ground floor, would be open to the public while the rest of the building will house the archive and offices for the Bishops' Conference. Marketing of the building began in October last year after it had sat empty for 'a considerable time'.
Glasgow Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Avenues work on two Glasgow city centre streets now complete
Holland Street and Pitt Street, part of the wider £120m City Avenues project, are re-open, including new tree-lined streets, widened pavements with a Caithness stone finish, segregated cycle lanes and green landscaping. Along these streets, an influx of private investment has also led to hundreds of homes being built in the area. READ NEXT:Peter Krykant was brave enough to take risks because he wanted to save lives The development is being hailed as the biggest physical transformation of the Glasgow city centre since the pedestrianisation of Buchanan Street in the 1970s. The Holland Street/Pitt Street project was delivered with both the Scottish and UK Governments contributing £2.4million, with additional funding provided from developer contributions and Transport Scotland. Amongst the complimentary investments adding to the transformation of the area is Moda's Holland Park apartment building. Moda is one of the private investors who have built in the area, building the Holland Park development on the site of the old HQ of Strathclyde Police. James Blakey, Moda Group's director of planning and engagement, said: 'Moda is proud to have supported these improvements, reinforcing our commitment to investing in the city's future.' 'The city council said when complete, the Avenues programme - which includes the transformation of George Square - will form a network of attractive and accessible streets comparable with the people-focused changes introduced across Europe and designed to encourage more residents, visitors and investors to the city centre. Councillor Angus Millar, Glasgow City Council's Convenor for City Centre Recovery, praised the transformation of the area. He said: 'The Holland and Pitt Street Avenue also show how public and private investment is working together to unlock opportunities across the city centre, creating vibrant and attractive new districts.'
The National
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Peter Krykant spoke from Scotland to the world – but work isn't done
Peter Krykant stepped into that void. Peter first caught my attention when he openly dared to break the law by opening a safe consumption space. I was working to end the drug war in the United States at the time, lobbying Congress and the White House, and Peter's actions were galvanising. 'How a Man With a Van Is Challenging UK Drug Policy' was how the New York Times described Peter in a 2020 article. His actions were inspiring. I was reminded of the civil disobedience of the racial justice movement of the 1960s, of the ability to make the law – this seemingly entrenched part of society – look cruel, unjust, and stupid. Peter Krykant in his safe consumption van"I obviously don't want to be arrested, but I'm willing to put myself in that position and I think it'll only reflect badly on the government if that happens," he told the BBC. His bravery was enlivening. It was not just his boldness that caught my attention; it was also the other aspects that drove him. Peter never chose to work on drug policy. He had lived experience. He knew first-hand the stigma that comes with using drugs, where terms like 'junkie' or 'fiend' are common parlance, even in the media. His battle was not just with politicians; but with society itself. He showed us all the value of centring people with lived experience when it comes to changing policy. In a social media post a week ago discussing overdose death, Peter lamented: 'I lost my first family member when I was 15, my uncle. Then my cousin around 17 years ago. Another cousin December 2018, my aunt and uncle's only child, then in September 2021 the youngest death, my cousin who left a 5-year-old daughter. 'I carried his coffin. His daughter standing over the grave asking when daddy would be back, it doesn't get any easier.' (Image: Twitter/Peter Krykant) The politicians feared him because he did not cower. Invites to meet with the first minister or calls with other leaders, attention from the media, a rise in profile, these things can often make someone play the political game of access, plaudits, and incremental change. Not Peter. He continued to speak truth to power and call them out for inaction. He didn't care who he offended or if an invite was rescinded. His was a crusade to save his friends and family. When I started to write about Scottish drug policy, I felt a sense of imposter syndrome, as someone who was not living in Scotland. A good friend connected me with Peter, who was then always there to help guide me. I asked him about what impacted people were asking for, what policy changes he wanted, and included them in my articles. When we finally met at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Arizona in October 2023, he was warm, full of banter and good chat, reminding me of friends I miss from back home. READ MORE: Peter Krykant: Scotland must act on drug deaths even if the UK won't Peter and I were not especially close, but in recent months, his social media posts revealed someone who was struggling and there is now guilt that I could have reached out to connect again amid his challenges. I am sure those closer to him feel similar. His legacy is centring impacted voices in the drug policy debate and advancing a saner drug policy in Scotland, notably the opening of a legal safe consumption room in Glasgow. But his fight goes on. Drug deaths are astronomical – and the day after he died one Scottish newspaper led its front page with the headline 'Safe drugs room sparks 175 complaints on needles litter'. Peter would have torn this newspaper apart for its NIMBYism, the stigma, and the desire to lambast a life-saving intervention because of litter complaints when drug deaths have just risen by a third. Peter's legacy is strong, and he will be sorely missed across the globe, but the hard work remains. Michael Collins is a native Glaswegian who lives in Atlanta. He is the former director for national affairs at Drug Policy Alliance.
