Drugs death in Wigan on the rise, as charity calls on the Government to take action

A charity supporting people in Wigan borough with substance misuse has revealed a rise in the number of drug-related deaths.

A total of 37 people died from drug-related causes in 2025, up from 35 in 2024.

WithYou has highlighted the figures as the charity calls for a single minister in charge of drugs policy and political leadership on the issue.

Across England and Wales, 5,519 drug-related deaths were registered in 2025, down from 5,565 in 2024.

But WithYou says the figures may not show the full scale of the problem as nitazenes - synthetic opioids far more powerful than heroin - are turning up in other drugs without people knowing.

In Wigan borough, WithYou’s team is working with partners to keep people safer by: taking harm reduction and health support into communities with its well-being vehicle, alongside partners such as The Brick and the rough sleepers team; providing naloxone, which reverses an opioid overdose, and training people to use it; giving out testing strips and self-testing packs, and helping people send samples to WEDINOS, a free drug testing service; providing needle and syringe services; offering blood-borne virus tests through its Saving Lives, Together campaign; and training nine volunteers in harm reduction, naloxone, WEDINOS, needle and syringe provision, and dried blood spot testing.

The service also works closely with the police and probation services.

WithYou has trained members of the police team to carry naloxone and, when concerns emerged locally about contaminated heroin and crack cocaine, the teams shared information so people could be warned quickly.

The partnership is also exploring training door staff in the night-time economy.

Vicki Bowdler, treatment and recovery manager at WithYou in Wigan and Leigh, said: “These figures represent real people from Wigan and Leigh. They were family members, friends and neighbours, and our thoughts are with everyone who misses them today and always.

“It’s now impossible to tell what’s in a substance from how it looks or how it’s labelled. That’s why we take support to where people are, with naloxone, testing kits and advice, and why we work alongside police and probation. When risks change, we can share information and act together, so people are told quickly.

“If you’re worried about your own drug use, or of someone close to you, get in touch today at our website wearewithyou.org.uk.”

Lawrence Gerrard, sergeant in the offender management unit, said: “We really are completely intertwined in terms of our co-location and co-working together.”

Responsibility for drugs is spread across at least six government departments with no single minister in charge.

WithYou says the government should:

• act now to save lives, by allowing overdose prevention centres in areas where people inject in public, making naloxone free and easier to get, and setting up a national drug checking service;
• make sure everyone who needs treatment can get it quickly, wherever they live, with clear national standards on fast access, the right dose and wider support;
• back services with long-term, sustained investment;
• tackle the poverty and disadvantage that lead people into drug use, through decent housing, action on homelessness, support into work and a proper safety net;
• treat drug use as a health issue and not a crime, because evidence suggests decriminalising possession could improve public health by reducing the stigma that stops people seeking help.