FATHER Jim McCartney is a well-known figure in the shady world of teenage drug abuse.

He's helped dozens of desperate young people with nowhere else to turn and in some cases watched them overcome their addictions.

But now the priest is on a new mission. He wants to help the "forgotten" victims of drugs . . . the PARENTS of addicts. Father Jim is setting up a support group for the mothers and fathers who have watched their kids' lives become ravaged by drugs or have had trouble with the law.

It's a pioneering project for victims who have so far been ignored. The priest says he has been horrified by the huge increase in drug abuse among young people in Blackburn in the past eight months and has found that parents often have nowhere to turn.

The first meeting of Parents Are Vulnerable Everywhere - PAVE - is to be held this week at St Anne's Church, Blackburn.

He said: "Parents go through an awful lot of trauma, isolation and confusion when their children are involved in drugs or crime.

"I'm a great believer in Eastern types of meditation and there will be periods of silence and stillness where they can just gather their thoughts. "There is a lot of secular support work and I feel it's important people know there is a spiritual place for them to turn."

He said the non-religious support group for youngsters, People Are in Need - PAIN - had been a great success since it started last year.

One of the most heartbreaking cases dealt with by Father Jim touched thousands of our readers last year.

Sue Huddlestone was a prostitute he found crouching in the corner of the church grounds, sniffing a bag of glue. The 21-year-old, who sold her body to survive, was a talented poet and after befriending her Father Jim published her work in his magazine, Edges.

Tragically, Sue choked to death after sniffing gas and drinking half a bottle of vodka.

She never saw her work in print.

Just weeks before she died, she wrote: Homeless living in Blackburn town

Addicted to heroin known as brown

I'm 21 nearly 22

And all this pain I have been through

I'm only alive 'cause of Father Jim, St Anne's Church and the soup kitchen.

Father Jim operates an "open door" policy at his home next to the church in France Road where young people can go to talk about their problems.

He says the group has attracted people using a wide range of substances, mainly hard drugs such as heroin.

He added: "Some of them have overcome their problems after coming here. "We sit around, have a cup of tea and chat.

"It's not a religious group, just a meeting place.

"I get calls from people who have moved on who like to keep in touch and some even bring their mates along."

Now parents are being offered the same hope.

The first PAVE meeting will be held at the house on Thursday at 8pm.

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