THIS week we launched the first of our Pride of East Lancashire Awards, the accolade for the area's best community group.

One man who knows a lot about the work of such groups - from being helped to helping others - is Paul Cullen, as Donna McKenzie found out...

AT 29 Paul Cullen's life revolved around injecting heroin into himself as often as possible, no matter what the cost.

He slept in places most people would not allow a dog to lie and even stole from his sick mother to feed his habit.

Now 32 Paul works as a full-time drug rehabilitation project worker and helps hundreds of users to beat their addiction to reclaim a better quality of life.

The change in Paul's life came about when he began to visit THOMAS (Those on the Margin of Society) in France Street, Blackburn, on a regular basis.

THOMAS, run by Father James McCartney, is a registered charity which provides treatment and rehabilitation for drug and alcohol dependency. It provides a residential drug rehabilitation programme, a mentoring scheme for ex-offenders at HM Preston and Lancaster, and a drop-in-centre which attracts around 70 people every day.

It was visiting the soup kitchen there over a two-and-a-half year period which gave Paul, who now lives in Darwen, the strength to kick his habit.

He said: "The main problem is getting help when you want it.

"Although community drugs teams offer prescriptions they are run through Communicare and the NHS so they have to fulfil certain criteria and keep certain appointments.

"But it's very difficult for addicts to do that. By the time they get to the point where they want help they're at the point where they might die."

Paul's nightmare began at the age of 12 when he started using cannabis and alcohol. Soon he was injecting amphetamines and heroin.

His days revolved around stealing to afford his next fix.

He said: "Addiction can happen to anyone through making a series of bad decisions.

"I was physically, emotionally and spiritually dead. I was a pathetic little boy who got screwed up. I was in a hole without a ladder.

"I don't know if I'd still be using if I'd not come to THOMAS, but I think I'd still be screwed up."

He successfully completed a rehabilitation programme and trained as a project worker.

"I get paid a wage now," he said. "But I find it really frustrating because sometimes you are watching people die. I find that disheartening.

"But at the end of the day lives are saved here and people are given a new chance to really do something with their lives."

THOMAS is just one of the thousands of community groups in East Lancashire which provides a lifeline to people in need of vital help.

Send a nomination - Pride of East Lancashire section