DRUG rehab worker Mubashir Khan said a new community cafe is helping the Asian community tackle the taboo subject of substance misuse, but wants to reach out to more addicts and their families.

A former user himself, the 34-year-old from Burnley hopes to raise awareness about the Ehsaas centre, within the Cornerhouse Cafe in Brierfield, and is looking for volunteers to help.

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He helped set up the service last year to try and replicate those offered by Inspire, a substance misuse service in East Lancashire, after recognising that such support tends to raise suspicions within Asian communities.

His centre runs support groups, motivation programmes and sessions to help families deal with issues relating to drug use, such as stress, depression and familial breakups.

Ehsaas means empathy and understanding in Urdu, and was the inappropriate name given to a ‘prison-like’ clinic in Pakistan, where Mubashir was sent by his family in his 20s, to tackle his problems. He said: “One of the ways the Asian communities deal with drug problems is sending you off to Pakistan to get married, or to a clinic, but this can often make things worse.

“The clinic I went to was run like a business and involved a lot of forcing me to do things, and it made things worse. It was only when I came back here and got help from Inspire five years ago that I managed to deal with the issues. We are not here to judge.”

Faz Patel, a community cohesion campaigner from Blackburn, said: “This is a really fantastic service. People need support.”

Call Mubashir on 01282 644644.