TWO former Darwen punks, now born-again Christians, will return to their home town next month to talk about their lives.

Dave Shore and Glenn Fox will tell how they left behind a world of booze and mohican haircuts to join the church and help fight poverty in the Third World.

Both men have helped to set up an orphanage and clinic in Tanzania. Now the Bethany Project supplies 7,000 gallons of purified water per day, runs a clinic staffed by four medically-trained Tanzanians and cares for 30 children.

Dave, 41, formerly of Dove Lane, left Darwen Moorland High School aged 16 with no qualifications and says by the time he reached 18 he was living for alcohol and sex.

One night he overdosed on booze in a fit of depression and ended up in hospital. But his faith in God helped him to recover, he left his job and started a Bible study course in Sheffield. Now he leads a large church in York, where he lives with his wife Shelley and three sons.

Glen, 41, of Hargreaves Road, Oswaldtwistle, formerly lived in Turncroft Road, Darwen. In his late teens he favoured a mohican haircut and leather jacket but through Dave he attended a meeting at Darwen Baptist Church and decided to become a Christian.

He now uses his experience of life to rehabilitate offenders through his work in the prison service. He also plays an active part in his local church.

The pair want people to see they have kept to their faith and have not looked back since.

Dave said: "I am really looking forward to coming to Darwen. I still have family there. I walked into a pub the other week and someone I know shouted 'It's the Bible basher'. It was a sudden change I made to Christianity so people think it's strange.

"At the time I'd been in a fight in Blackpool and they thought I'd got a knock on the head or something. The following year myself and a friend went over to South Africa and we realised the need for an orphanage for the street children and basic things like clean water. We sat with some village elders and later got 30 acres of land and returned with a team of people.

"Glen came out with me and it was great trip. We helped build the house and they now have water and solar panels. It's fantastic.

"I definitely wouldn't have thought I'd be doing that when I was a punk. People said with a drunken bum like me and a punk rocker like Glenn it would never last. But now we are back in Darwen to show them."

The pair will speak at a charity dinner called 'Was ther' life after Darren?' at the Tower Room at Darwen Leisure Centre, on February 6 from 7.30pm. All proceeds will go to the national charity Christians Against Poverty.

The event has been organised by the New Frontiers Community Church, which meets in the Tower View Centre, off Marsh House Lane, on Sundays. For tickets to the talk, priced £4 including dinner, contact the church on 01254 771776 or 761824.