Community champions across Blackburn have been celebrated at a special event.

Individuals who helped to share important Covid advice and guidance with the community and their networks have been celebrated at a special event in Blackburn Library.

Care Network hosted the event to highlight the successful completion of the 2022 Community Champions Project – funded by a portion of the £2million Covid government fund to support communities in staying safe, with trusted information supporting health and wellbeing.

The Community Champions Project came after Care Network recruited over 300 volunteers living with or connected to those with learning disabilities and autism in the community on behalf of Blackburn with Darwen Council.

The volunteers were each tasked with sharing key public health messages in the borough to help keep more people safe and save lives during the recovery phase of the pandemic.

The incredible passion and work of the community champions has had an enormous positive impact in empowering the local community to stay safe, well and informed.

This better understanding resulted in fewer people ending up seriously ill or in hospital with Covid-19, alongside a significant uptake of the autumn 2022 booster scheme.

More than 7,500 local people were reached by Care Network’s Community Champions (approximately 5 per cent of the local population), with each volunteer giving their time to be a trusted, informed voice and source of help to others.

Champions were a vital link between the council, people in the community and local organisations here to support them.

Over 70 community champions attended last week’s celebration event, along with Care Network staff and partners.

Guest speakers were in attendance, including Abdul Razaq, Director of Public Health (DPH) for Blackburn with Darwen.

Community champions Suzanne and Steven took the stage to talk about what the project meant to them, and a wonderful poem was performed and signed by volunteers from partner organisation Purple Patch.

Each of the community champions was awarded a market voucher as thanks for their efforts during the project.

DPH Abdul Razaq said: “Community champions have been at the heart of empowering our residents with access to reliable, trustworthy health information during the Covid pandemic and recovery phase.

“I would like to thank every champion for their energy, passion, and time in making an enormous difference to the lives in our communities.

“There is no doubt that the community champions programme has been a social movement that has saved countless lives and helped communities to stay safe.”

James Hadleigh, chief executive at Care Network, said: “We are incredibly proud of our community champions involved with this important project.

“Their time, dedication and care has helped to reduce isolation in our local disabled community, provided support to those in need and had a significant impact in improving people’s health and wellbeing in what has been, an incredibly challenging time for us all.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to each and every one of the champions, along with our staff, partners and the council for their wonderful support in what we can firmly say has been a hugely successful project here in BwD.”

As part of the government-funded community champions programme, the council also recruited other networks of champions to help reach younger people and residents from BAME backgrounds.