SAFE (Support, Advice, Free Exchange, Empathy) is a new harm reduction awareness campaign based in Clondalkin, Dublin. It is the result of a collaborative effort between Clondalkin Drug and Alcohol Task Force (CDATF), An Garda Síochána, Irish Rail and local drug services, Tus Nua and Clondalkin Addiction Support Programme (CASP). Ms Frances Fitzgerald TD launched the campaign on 1 October 2018 at an event attended by all the stakeholders involved in the campaign and local community groups. SAFE began as a response to the increasingly visible use of drugs, antisocial behaviour, and drug litter in the Clondalkin area. A steering group was established to coordinate a harm reduction initiative with a focus on providing support to very vulnerable people, many of whom had travelled to the area to obtain or use drugs.

The steering group was particularly concerned with activity around the local railway station and there was a need to coordinate the response with organisations outside of the Clondalkin area. The involvement of the South Western Regional Drugs and Alcohol Task Force (SWRDTF) and the Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP) in the campaign provided the continuum of support needed to deal with the mobile nature of the problem. SAFE provides harm reduction services to those who are using crack cocaine and heroin. Over the 10 months leading up to the launch, it has built an effective, coordinated response to the problems identified by the steering group and provided support to a very marginalised group of people.

Many of the people whom SAFE supports present with specific and complex needs and are often hard to reach. SAFE has developed a vital service that is safe, supportive and empathetic to the service user's individual needs.

The effectiveness of the campaign is due to the close partnership between Irish Rail, An Garda Síochána (AGS), CASP, Clondalkin Tus Nua, SWRDTF, South Dublin County Council, ALDP, and the HSE Addiction Services Outreach Team. The success of the initiative is underpinned by collobaration between all of these agencies and the local drugs task force. It is an excellent example of a coordinated, targeted, and effective harm reduction campaign.