BASIAN PROFILE

BASIAN (Black & Asian Service In Alcohol & Narcotics) is a registered charity and BME specialist service based in Reading. It offers support, advice and guidance to the socially excluded and most vulnerable young people and adults from within our communities. BASIAN has privileged access to this section of the community, through a well designed mentoring and outreach program. BASIAN have taken it from a successful nationally recognised community engagement model, which they have worked on with UCLAN (University of Central Lancashire) which heads in community research. BASIAN aims to reduce crime and offending in the Reading area and it does this by:

• Working in partnership with voluntary and statutory agencies
• Working with  drug users and ex-users, offenders and ex-offenders, vulnerable young people, as well as families and friends and carers of those mentioned above
• Providing clients with mentors who offer advice, guidance and support
• Signposting clients into existing support services

BASIAN was founded in 2005 after two members of the local community were recruited as lead researchers on a community engagement project funded by the Home Office and managed by UCLAN, into substance misuse amongst BME members of the Reading community. Both Shahid Farid and Urfan Azad helped in compiling a 100 page report of the year long project. The report was recognised as a good conduct guide by the Home Office and was sent to local (DAAT) Drug Alcohol Action Teams across the country. BASIAN has been nationally and most recently, internationally recognised for its work on the Crossing Continents BBC program. In which one of the founders of the organisation traced his tracks back to the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he was sent by his family to tackle his drug problem. In 2007 BASIAN awarded The Pride of Reading Award in Community Development. In March 2009 were awarded The Muslim News Award 2009 of Excellence, by the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears. Most recently were awarded the BCF award for Tackling Gun/Knife Crime & Serious Youth Violence by Prince Edward in September 2010.

BASIAN have spoken on a number of national conferences as well as giving interviews on their work on local, national and international media. On a strategic level BASIAN are members of the Race Equality and Diversity Scrutiny Panel at the Home Office, which is built up of 10 members from across England. They are elected members on the Criminal Prosecution Service & Hate Crime Scrutiny panel. BASIAN have been acknowledged for its input into national reports on BME prisoners carried out by the Ministry Of Justice and (NOMS) Nation Offender Management Service, their work and case studies have been used as a good practise guide. BASIAN are supported by Reading Borough Council, Thames Valley Police and the Home Office for the three projects they run, which consist of supporting BME drug users into treatment & rehabilitation, Tackling Gun/Knife Crime & Serious Youth Violence, and Preventing Violent Extremism.