THE POSTER is typically frank.

There was a young couple from Kent,

Who spent the weekend in a tent,

He got an erection,

But had no protection,

So she picked up her bags and went.

Similar safe sex messages adorn the walls of the Brook Advisory Centre, in Blackburn, which has offered a free, confidential service for young men and women since 1994.

The "service" includes contraception and pregnancy tests and has been provided from a small first-floor office at 54/56 Darwen Street. If you don't know where you are going it is extremely difficult to find - but the centre is thinking big and is all set to expand.

It hopes to acquire the vacant ground-floor premises, which would secure a bigger and brighter future. The centre has raised about £105,000 of the £130,000 it needs to buy the ground-floor and a fund-raising effort could be in the pipeline.

So could another application to the National Lotteries Board.

According to centre manager Sheila Shaw, the demand for the service is booming. "This does not necessarily mean there is more sexual activity going on," she said. "More people are getting to know about us."

But there are still misconceptions surrounding the Brook Advisory Centre.

"A few people erroneously believe we are an abortion clinic," said Sheila.

"If the question of abortion arises then we refer it the NHS.

"A lot of girls are still scared of going to their GPs for the Pill because they are scared their parents will be told.

"About 59 per cent of people who receive a service from us are under 16.

"People come here because they are non-threatening, comfortable surroundings and the staff are non-judgmental."

More than 1,400 young people have received a service since last April and more than 200 people sought help in January alone.

Sheila added: "Schoolchildren tend to hunt in packs.

"We get groups of boys coming in for a bit of a lark on a Saturday afternoon. "But if they do want condoms then we take them seriously. We also get groups of girls coming in and only one will want some help.

"The others will be there to hold her hand.

"A typical example would be a young person coming to see us after seeing our leaflet.

"They may be at their wits' end about something.

"They may think they are pregnant and want a test."

Doctors, nurses and counsellors work from the centre on a sessional basis.

Every person has an initial discussion with a professional counsellor.

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