A NEW partnership to help vulnerable adults in Blackburn and Darwen turn around their lives has been singled out for praise in the Parliament.

The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) initiative was launched at a conference at Blackburn Rovers FC’s Ewood Park last month.

Now Liberal Democrat peer and former chief executive of Relate, Baroness Tyler of Enfield, has praised its work in a high-profile House of Lords debate.

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The initiative is a partnership between Blackburn with Darwen Council and the Families Health and Wellbeing Consortium along with four national charities – Clinks, DrugScope, Homeless Link and Mind working in the criminal justice, substance misuse, homelessness and mental health fields.

The charity Child Action North West, has been commissioned to lead its delivery in Blackburn with Darwen.

MEAM's work in the borough been was singled out during a debate on the Social Justice Strategy in the House of Lords.

Baroness Claire Tyler, chair of MEAM, said: “In areas such as Blackburn we are now seeing fantastic cross-agency work being championed at the highest levels by local partners.

“An independent evaluation of local pilots recently found that a more coordinated approach from local agencies had led to statistically significant increases both in welfare for client and a reduction in wider service-use costs of up to 26 percent over two years."

MEAM works with adults living in hostels or shared housing who are in the revolving door of statutory and voluntary services.

Many suffered apoor start in life leading them to become addicted to alcohol or other substances, and are more likely to be unemployed or end up in prison.

They make costly demands on police, health, the council and other services.

Marie Duckworth, Child Action Northwest MEAM project manager, said: "It was great to be recognised in the House of Lords.

“We work with people building on their individual needs and strengths and I’m glad our hard work and dedication is beginning to pay off."

Blackburn with Darwen Council chief executive Harry Catherall has praised the project as 'a strategic approach so we can improve lives for the most excluded individuals in our society'.