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Search forFounder of Derby charity Lauren's Link nominated for award
Wednesday, August 06, 2008, 07:30
Lauren's Link, which was begun by Annette Rodgers eight years ago after her 16-year-old daughter died of a heroin overdose, has been nominated for a Tackling Drugs Changing Lives award.
The accolades aim to celebrate the work of people in their communities. Lauren's Link has been nominated for the team category and is now in with a chance of winning £10,000 at an awards ceremony in London in December.
Ms Rodgers said that regardless of whether the charity wins, the real prize was the national recognition.
“I am overjoyed that we have been nominated. It is a reward for all the hard work people have put in over the years,” she said. “Lauren's Link has never been nominated for an award before so I am very flattered that somebody thinks we are worthy of this nomination.
“For me it has been a very personal journey and there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears. This is like the cherry on the cake.”
Ms Rodgers started the charity two years after the death of her daughter Lauren in June 1998. Lauren had become addicted to heroin and overdosed weeks after coming out of a detoxification clinic.
Ms Rodgers found there was nowhere for the families of drug users to turn and, in November 2000, she started a weekly self-help group which she ran in her spare time, called Lauren's Link.
It was based in St Peter's House, in Gower Street, Derby, and offered people a place to share their experiences.
In 2003, a £35,000 grant from Derby's Drug and Alcohol Action Team allowed Ms Rodgers to leave her job as a life skills co-ordinator and work on the charity full-time.
Ian Oliver, of Chiltern Gardens, Long Eaton, turned to Lauren's Link after his son started showing signs of drug abuse in July 2006.
The 52-year-old said: “My son started smoking cannabis and taking cocaine and this was causing my wife and I a lot of grief.
“We were struggling to understand what was happening because we knew nothing about drugs. We went to Lauren's Link for guidance and they helped us so much.
“I am so thrilled that the charity has been nominated because it is such a worthy cause. For me, the bottom line is that it saved my marriage.”
Judges in the Tackling Drugs Changing Lives awards will select ten finalists and two overall winners – one individual worker and one team.
Ms Rodgers added: “A lack of funding means that we are not able to do a lot of the things we would like to. If we won the award, we would ask the parents and carers how they would like and use the money to help even more people.”
To contact Lauren's Link call Derby 362744 or visit www.laurenslink.org.uk.
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IN MEMORY: Annette Rodgers with a picture of her daughter Lauren, after whom she named the drug help charity Lauren's Link
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