A PARTNERSHIP to help vulnerable adults improve their lives has been launched in Blackburn with Darwen.

The council’s approach to the national Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) agenda was officially launched at a conference at Blackburn Rovers FC’s Ewood Park.

The initiative is a coalition between Blackburn with Darwen Council and the Families Health and Wellbeing Consortium, along with four national charities Clinks, DrugScope, Homeless Link and Mind.

MEAM will work with the most chaotic adults currently living in hostels or shared housing who are in the revolving door of statutory and voluntary services in the borough.

Many of the men and women have had very poor early lives, experiencing traumatic events, which mean they are more likely to be addicted to alcohol or other substances, more likely to end up in prison and more likely to be unemployed.

MEAM aims to provide tailored support to improve their life chances and to reduce the demands on public services.

Harry Catherall, chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “With careful planning, co-ordination, partnership working and a strategic approach to making the most cost-effective use of different national and local funding, we can improve lives and outcomes for the most excluded individuals in our society.”

Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said: “Making Every Adult Matter is helping to reduce demand on the police force by tackling re-offending in individuals who often have many differing needs as a consequence of their life styles.

“The project provides two key workers to liaise directly with people who often get caught in a cycle of offending, helping to reduce crime and benefiting those individuals too, by giving them opportunities to turn their life around.”