A GROUP which attempts to improve life for Bromsgrove residents is celebrating after completing the first milestone year of a project to support families struggling with issues such as drug and alcohol addiction, debt problems, anti-social behaviour and school absenteeism.

The Sunrise Project, which was launched in March 2014, by the Bromsgrove Partnership, has already supported more than 31 local families, responding to a need identified at a Bromsgrove Partnership Away Day, to offer one tailored, holistic service to families, rather than having numerous agencies involved working separately.

People are referred to the Sunrise Project by its partner agencies and the team then helps them with support including drug rehabilitation, parenting courses, time management, debt advice courses and more. The project also has links with the Starlight Café in Charford, which was set up by bdht with funding contributions from the Bromsgrove Partnership towards set up costs and its first year - to offer courses and programmes in a variety of areas including parenting, IT courses, Pathways courses, CAB, sexual health advice, groups for people with Autism and Aspergers and youth facilities.

Mike Brown, chief executive of bdht, said: “The main job of a sunrise officer is to identify the cause of their problem and co-ordinate with other agencies to find solutions to the many issues affecting local people. We aim to get them on the path to a better future.

“These are people that have been hit by bad luck and they deserve compassion. We are all only ever three bad decisions away from difficult circumstances. It’s not always bad decisions that get people there; it can be a turn of fate such as redundancy or bereavement that can trigger other events to follow. Whether it’s bad luck or bad decisions, these are all somebody’s mother or father, son or daughter, brother or sister. We aim to help these people by understanding their circumstances and doing what we can to support them. The world can only get better if we make it better.”

The new chair of the Bromsgrove Partnership Board, Mick Cadman, added: “Bromsgrove Partnership collectively took a decision to trial a new way of working with the aim of transforming the way partner agencies work together. Our focus has to be putting individuals and families at the heart of everything we do and I applaud the hard work of the Sunrise team and all supporting partner agencies. We are still learning but we will continue to strive to transform services in partnership to make sure we truly support and meet the needs of our local communities.”