Birmingham Drug Action Team (DAT) Crack Cocaine Strategy 2005 - 2008, part of Birmingham Community Safety Partnership (BCSP), celebrated the close of 2006 by holding its first 'Annual Awards Recognition Ceremony'.

Terence Wallen received an individual award as community champion, and received the Drug Team Award on behalf of BRO-SIS at the ceremony.

The event, held at Austin Court on Brindley Place, provided the opportunity to reflect on a year of tremendous achievements from individuals across the city representing a multitude of different backgrounds.

The 120 nominations put forward included service users who battled and conquered their addiction to drugs, police and housing officers who worked together to make communities a safer place to live, and drug teams and staff who worked tirelessly throughout the year to provide treatment and support services to substance users.

Twenty eight awards were given out on the night under the categories, 'Community Champion', 'Drug Project', 'Drug Worker', 'Former Drug User', 'Outstanding Contribution' and 'Lifetime Achievement'.

The event was co-hosted by a number of key-note speakers including Lord Kamlesh Patel, Community Engagement Professor at the University of Central Lancashire; Ranjit Sondhi, Chair of the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, Helen Cochrane, Birmingham Lead Commissioner for Drug Treatment, and Grantley Haynes, Crack Cocaine Strategy Manager for DAT.

The ceremony also provided a platform for local musical poetic artists to take to the stage and woo the audience with their drugs rap 'n' mix performances. They spat out lyrics unfolding stories about life growing up in inner city Birmingham, as they watched friends and those closest to them become entangled in a world of drugs and crime.

Former service users also contributed to the programme of entertainment. They spent a number of weeks leading up to the event working with local animator and digital artist, Rob Grant, to produce an animated film which was screened on the night. This touching animation provided snapshots of the lives they had lived whilst addicted to drugs, through to their engagement in treatment services, to their newly found 'drug-free' status.

The culmination of arts performances were all representative of Birmingham DAT's varied approach to communicating with drug users, their parents and carers, staff and the public as a whole.

'How we spread the word about drug safety and get the message across is one of the key factors in reducing the harm caused by drugs' said Grantley Haynes, Crack Strategy Manager for DAT and winner of the Lifetime Achievement award.