Paul Bunt | Boomtown Crime &  Drug Manager 

Overall I found the MAST service delivered by The Loop to be professional and effective in helping to achieve our objective to reduce drug harm at the festival.  I would thoroughly recommend this service to other festivals and hope they return next year.

Justin Bibby | Superintendent, North Cumbria Police
Kendal Calling Gold Command

In my view, front of house testing adds an additional safeguarding layer to the overall approach to drugs and is an important aspect of my Gold Strategy to minimise the risk of harm to festival goers. I had the pleasure of visiting The Loop at Kendal Calling and I was very impressed by both their professionalism and the holistic approach taken by the team to reduce the harm caused by controlled drugs. I am very much looking forward to working with The Loop again.

Greater Manchester Police

GMP have built up a successful partnership with The Loop at Parklife over a number of years. Harm reduction and public safety is our primary aim and The Loop have played a key role in providing analysis and insight into the drug markets on site. It is not hyperbole to say that the work of The Loop helps save lives.

Gus Miller | Specialist Crime Operations Unit, Durham Constabulary | 2019

This type of initiative can clearly be a benefit in any harm reduction strategy to reduce drug-related deaths by informing Durham Constabulary of new emerging drug trends that could cause imminent health issues, but also to the users themselves by informing them of the dangers that or any specific drug presents, so I welcome its continued use in our area and nationally. The information on current drug trends within Durham City was very informative and gave a perspective of new and emerging trends that Durham Constabulary was unaware of.

The Royal Society for Public Health

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) supports the deployment of Multi Agency Safety Testing (MAST) at festivals and in the nighttime economy, as a common sense harm reduction intervention that has the capacity to both reduce the quantity of potentially harmful drugs in circulation in such settings and reduce the probability of serious or lethal harm occurring as a result of their use. RSPH supports The Loop as the leading and trusted best-practice organisation delivering this intervention in a safe and responsible manner in the UK.

Becca Frankland | Clubs & Dance Music Editor, Skiddle

We've been helping people fill dance floors for 16 years, so we feel it's equally, probably more so, important to make sure that the people who populate them are looked after. As such we're massive champions of what the Loop do, firmly believing that their pioneering work is shaking rigid and out of date attitudes towards young people and how they party.

Prun Bijral | Medical Director, Change Grow Live

In a clubbing environment where we know that some level of substance use is inevitable, it’s critical that we ensure people are using substances in the safest way possible. The Loop, in partnership with the WHP, is doing as much as it can to support people to make informed and safer decisions. During my visit, I was able to see the team test substances brought by the medical team, and within minutes inform them of drug class, and purity, to facilitate the care of individuals who may have required support. It’s a truly groundbreaking approach, and under the leadership of Professor Measham I can see how this could become an integral and essential service in festivals and clubs alike

Pete Morris | Manchester Medical Services

I regularly have to treat patients who are under the influence of recreational drugs, both legal and illegal, some of which are life-threatening. Having staff from The Loop on hand has proved to be invaluable, not just due to their extensive knowledge of the recreational drug scene, but also because of their calm and collected approach to welfare. Because of their non-judgemental approach and focus on harm reduction, some of my patients who have refused to tell me what has been taken have subsequently told volunteers from The Loop, thus allowing me to provide the necessary medical treatments.

Kim Blauenfeldt Gosmer | Project Manager, Danish drug consumption room (DCR) Skyen

In February 2017, the Danish drug consumption room (DCR) Skyen, located in central Copenhagen, launched a 12 months drug testing project. The primary drugs used in the DCR are cocaine (approx. 80%) and heroin (approx. 20%) and the purity of these drugs on a national basis (based on public figures from police seizures) is quite low, 37% and 19% (2015), respectively. One of the primary aims of the project is to get an insight into the composition of these drugs at street level to increase safety for the users and to support the staff working in the DCR.

Before the project was launched, we were lucky to have the possibility to meet with Fiona from The Loop to discuss their strategies, protocols and experiences with festival and nightclub drug testing. The meeting and subsequent mail correspondences have been a major support during the planning and startup of our project. For instance, we ended up acquiring the same FTIR equipment The Loop is working with based on Fiona’s recommendation and our drug testing protocol was also written with inspiration from Fiona and her team. Basically, we are happy that we didn’t have to re-invent the wheel and Fiona has truly helped our project to a running start.

Professor David Nutt | Founder, DrugScience

Fiona has been a founding member of DrugScience since 2010 and I have followed the development of the Loop with great interest. The Loop effectively combines Fiona's academic research and policy development with the evidence-based delivery of drug and alcohol services on the ground, all with a humane and harm reduction ethos. DrugScience fully supports The Loop's work and we have various members actively involved in The Loop's service delivery.  We are particularly delighted to see the successful introduction of forensic testing services on site to drug users at festivals and other events, as this is a successful and well-established harm reduction measure in several European countries.  We feel this can only be a positive development in the UK at a time when we are experiencing an alarming increase in drug-related deaths across the board.

Niamh Eastwood | Director, Release

The Loop’s forensic testing of drugs is a great example of the evidence-based initiatives around drug use that are increasingly needed in the UK. We at Release believe in harm reduction, and The Loop embodies this principle in its vital work that protects the lives of young people and deals with the realities of an unregulated drugs market.

Steve Moore | Former Director, Volteface

The Loop is a properly pioneering project. It is not just worthy but vital. It might just save lives. Volteface proudly supports the work of Fiona Measham and The Loop.

Ryan Shorthouse | Director, Bright Blue

Policymakers and politicians should not try and impose their utopias on people. We should instead deal with the world as it is and focus on reducing harm. That is why we support The Loop. It will save lives.

Amanda Fielding | Director, The Beckley Foundation

The Loop plays an invaluable role in keeping people safe by helping them to inform themselves about what it is they are consuming. It is a right that should be afforded to everyone, and The Loop is leading the way with evidence-based harm reduction.

Stefanie Jones | Director of the Drug Policy Alliance #SaferPartying campaign

The Loop is the ideal festival and nightclub harm reduction service – it includes top-notch drug education and outreach as well as forensic testing services that allow people to know exactly what’s in their substances and make safer choices. Truly a model for the rest of the world to follow.”

Nick Clegg | Former Deputy Prime Minister & former Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Member of Global Commission on Drug Policy

People who take drugs have no idea who has made them, how potent they are, or what impurities they contain. Regardless of your views on the legal status of drugs, we need to do more to protect people from harm. That’s why the work of The Loop is so important. It will literally save lives..

Transform Drug Policy Foundation

Transform is proud to have been actively supporting and championing the Loop since its formation. The Loop is an organisation that has shown outstanding leadership in pushing forward the historically neglected harm reduction agenda in the night-time economy. Their remarkable achievements reflect not only their status as preeminent experts in the field but also a steely determination to deliver meaningful change in often politically challenging environments. Most of all the Loop is driven by an overriding passion for the cause and a desire to end the needless tragedies of the past; to keep people safe and save lives. 

Sacha Lord-Marchionne | Director, The Warehouse Project

We believe that this partnership has helped to reduce drug-related incidents at our events. We are delighted to see how The Loop has grown and will continue to work closely with them as they expand across the UK and Europe. Moving forward, we will always ask for The Loop’s support, whether it is the WHP, Parklife or elsewhere. In return, we will also support them, nominating them as one of our official charities.

B Traits | Radio 1 DJ
Patron of The Loop

Brianna feels honoured to represent the Loop as a patron. She utilizes her influential position to full effect by tackling pressing issues like the need for widely accessible drug safety information, as well as fighting passionately for a rich and progressive club scene in the UK. She has collaborated with Professor Fiona Measham and The Loop on various projects including her BBC 3 documentary ‘How Safe Are My Drugs?’ and has participated in a number of conferences and discussions across the UK and overseas. Brianna has supported front of house MAST testing from the beginning, and believes that testing opens the dialogue, promotes harm reduction, and saves lives. 

Luke Laws | General Manager, Fabric

The Loop have been invaluable for us to develop our welfare team at fabric. Their knowledge and expertise are second to none and are always happy to help us. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending The Loop to anyone wanting to provide welfare in their organisation.

Pete Jordan | Director, MADE Festival

I was really impressed with the professional approach of The Loop and the service provided added an extra dimension to MADE Festival’s customer safety and harm reduction offering. I truly hope that we can continue to offer this service at our events and that this becomes a standard part of all large music events across the UK.

Paul Reed | CEO of Association of Independent Festivals (AIF)  

Professor Measham’s pioneering work with The Loop has proved invaluable in advancing our understanding of drug testing, effective messaging and above all else, pragmatic harm reduction at UK festivals. More importantly, having seen the work of The Loop first-hand in operation at our largest member festival (Boomtown Fair), I am convinced it has saved lives. Of course, all festivals must work to the best of their ability to restrict drugs from entering their sites, but if drugs can be smuggled into prisons they will be smuggled into festivals, whatever measures are put in place.

This is ultimately about the duty of care to audiences. It certainly isn’t and never has been about legitimising drug use or suggesting that any drug use is ‘safe’. With that in mind, making sure festival goers are better educated about the strength and make-up of these substances is important. And, when you consider that everything from plaster of paris to boric acid and malaria pills has been found through testing on-site at UK festivals, its role becomes imperative. Crucially, MAST also provides information and intelligence to all site medical and emergency services, alongside monitoring of local drug trends.

In recognition of this, we awarded Professor Measham and The Loop the ‘Act of independence’ award at our independent festival awards in 2016 and I was pleased to see the UK Festival Awards build upon this in 2019 with a hugely well deserved ‘Outstanding contribution to festivals’ award. Fiona’s expertise, knowledge and tireless commitment to harm reduction are an absolute asset to the independent festival industry

Freddie Fellowes | founder & sole owner, Secret Garden Party festival

The Loop represented the only positive advance in harm reduction I saw in the whole 15 years of running the Secret Garden Party. It cut hospital admissions and prevented potentially fatal misadventure. The fact it isn’t, now, a legal requirement of all licensed music events of this nature is a question that should be answered by all in authority.

Jon Drape | Managing Director, Ground Control
Patron of The Loop

Having the pop-up lab on site also meant we were able to continually test and identify substances confiscated during seizures and deposited into amnesty bins as well as samples given to medics.  Working closely with the Police and Professor Measham we could, when necessary, put out harm reduction messaging via our digital channels. Quite simply, there is no other Welfare Provider offering this kind of service that safeguards and protects our customers in such a unique and forward-thinking way.

Cameron Leslie | Owner, Fabric

Fabric London has been working in partnership with The Loop since 2014. This partnership is important because it helps us understand what is happening and why with regards to recreational drugs which enables us to devise an appropriate and fluid strategy for our club.

The Loop help in providing a balance between law enforcement and the welfare aspect by giving us an honest, unbiased view of what is happening.

The Loop has shaped the training of our team and provides onsite support, where interact with patrons in such a way as to not judge them. This helps with real education and is vital to harm reduction.

We get information on trends and problems far quicker through an organisation that has its finger on the pulse of these issues. It is far better and more reliable than relying on press/media and/or local/government authorities.

Professor Fiona Measham in particular has been a highly supportive and hugely knowledgeable guide for us in mapping out the safest possible environment for our customers. Without a doubt, our partnership with the Loop has helped reduce drug-related incidents at our events.

Alan D Miller | Chairman, The NTIA 

The Loop has tirelessly and consistently provided a sound and sensible voice in the world of public safety. With a professional diligent scientific approach, it has led the way in harm reduction approaches across Britain, working with police forces, event organizers and other stakeholders to ensure the outcome that everyone concerned with public health and safety should be concerned with - a more practical and pragmatic safety conscious approach for the 21st Century.

We at The NTIA are very proud to be affiliated with The Loop and indeed have engaged with conversations across Britain with a variety of decision makers about the sensible approaches, enormous experience and high standards it holds. We are excited by the positive direction some police forces have gone in leading the way for the rest of Britain in our opinion. This year, The British Medical Journal announced that it considered the “War on Drugs” to be an abject failure. With so many politicians globally recognizing the importance of new approaches that seek to prevent tragedy rather than amplify crime statistics, we are very much looking forward to a productive dialogue and collaboration ongoing with The Loop.

Andy George | Co-founder, Lost Village 

Thanks to the whole Loop team for such incredible dedication and passion to the cause. In collaboration with, and support from, Lincolnshire Police we may well have saved lives, as well as providing vital insights for events and festivals all over the UK.

Anne Marie Cockburn | Anyone's Child

A mother’s response to the #Crush DabWait campaign:

When I found out about the new #CrushDabWait campaign launched last week I felt relieved that common sense was finally prevailing. My only wish is that this campaign had existed 23 months ago before I lost my only child to an accidental ecstasy overdose. My 15 year old daughter Martha pounded down MDMA crystal to a powder that turned out to be 91% pure, she swallowed half a gram in one go and died 3 hours later.

The #CrushDabWait campaign was launched by The Loop drugs charity just ahead of Glastonbury to encourage users to think carefully about how much MDMA crystal they consume. I was delighted that it was supported by Radio 1 DJ B.Traits and drum and bass DJ Nicky Blackmarket, as well as being featured in Mixmag. This campaign fills me with hope that lives will be saved and other families won’t have to suffer a loss like mine.

The experts behind this campaign are keen to stress that they’re not trying to condone or encourage use, but due to the very high purity of MDMA crystal currently in circulation in the UK (on average 83%), this campaign is focussing solely on MDMA crystal rather than any other forms of ecstasy in order to put out necessary, informative and responsible public health information. This is an evidence-based response, based on research by The Loop’s Fiona Measham, showing that not only is MDMA crystal the most popular drug taken at UK festivals and EDM dance clubs, it’s also virtually pure and is causing serious medical problems for young people taking too much.

There will be those that say it is irresponsible and will encourage drug use – but I believe that the #CrushDabWait campaign could have saved Martha’s life had she known about it. Martha wanted to get high, she didn’t want to die – no parent wants either, but there’s one of those that’s preferable to the other.

I think the Loop is an incredible service. Even my friends that don’t take drugs thought it was great and informative. I think The Loop’s harm reduction approach is fantastic and refreshing. I particularly loved the chat after the drugs had been tested, it was really refreshing to be able to talk confidentially and in an unbiased way about any queries or questions I had not just about my sample but drugs advice in general especially to a trained and honest professional. I think the Loop is a huge step in the right direction for the approach to drugs, I hope it only gets bigger!

Visitor to The Loop at Parklife 2017

Me and a friend came to The Loop tent on Sunday because she had her first ecstasy tablet and started to get a bit panicky and paranoid. There was a woman with a plait and flowers in her hair - I can''t remember her name but she was really good. She was completely non-judgemental and reminded me of a mum or mother figure as she was so so comforting! I think it's really good what The Loop do and hope that I see these tents set up at more festivals throughout the year - because of this woman and the atmosphere in the tent my friend was able to calm down and we could go back out and see Carl Cox!!!!

Mother of Warehouse Project customer

Two weeks ago I had a phone call at 3 am from a drugs worker at The Warehouse Project. My 20-year-old daughter and one of her friends had taken MDMA and possibly another hallucinogen, 2CB, and were seriously disturbed.

Off their heads, randomly striking out at ambulance staff and others, shouting, yelling, wrestling, carried into the car and then into the house- we only got them home with the help of the WHP security staff who were exemplary in their patience and tolerance. If no one had picked them up they would undoubtedly been arrested (perhaps should have been arrested) and/or hospitalised. If they’d wandered away from the venue, they could easily have ended up under a bus. After an hour or so of screaming, throwing furniture, and striking out they flattened out and started to come to some realisation of what had happened, and how fortunate they had been to come to no harm.

Be grateful for those drug worker volunteers and security staff on a low hourly rate who might just scrape you up and save your life.

Anonymous Service User

I really couldn't recommend or put into words how appreciated services like this are and how vital this is to protect Clubbing & Festival culture. A new generation of younger, inexperienced and even experienced recreational drug users now have the opportunity to educate themselves instead of the government’s approach of making these people criminals. I think this is a really promising step forward and I will continue to support the Loop and spread the word.

The Loop's very first customer to use MAST at Kendal Calling, 2016

I have always understood that there are dangers of Drug use. Having services like the loop available help to minimise these dangers by giving factual information about the substances that I going to be taking. I first saw the loop on social media and was the first user of there front of house testing service at Kendal calling 2016. The service offered was brilliant from friendly, professional and knowledgable volunteers. In roughly 30 minutes I received accurate information about what my substance was as well as having the opportunity to ask any drug related questions.

Anonymous Service User

I absolutely love you guys. I test everything I buy at festivals when you’re there, even when I bring drugs into the festival I get it checked. I always make my friends do the same and tell them about you. Everyone feels safer when you’re there!