CHARLOTTE Flanagan was a member of a ground-breaking drugs prevention team praised by former government drugs czar Keith Hellawell.

She was a member of the Activate Project at the Trinity Youth and Community Centre in Clitheroe, which established an award-winning peer educator team.

The Activate team believed that youngsters were more likely to accept drugs prevention advice from people their own age and, barely out of their teens themselves, they had a passion for the health and well-being of their peers.

Lisa Harvey, a former member of Activate and now a drugs education worker with the Lancashire Youth and Community Service, said: "I met Charlotte on the Activate Project in 1997 and remained on friendly terms with her until her death. She was a popular team player and extremely friendly.

"We worked with young people passing on drugs information and we really made a difference. Charlotte was ideal for the job. She had such a winning personality. We were all very shocked to hear of her death."

Charlotte was one of a select team of teenagers trained as peer educators, who used drama workshops and assertiveness training to get their message across.

The ground-breaking scheme was so innovative that it forced a rethink on how drugs prevention advice was given to young people and caught the eye of former Government drugs czar Keith Hellawell.

Geoff Jackson, chief officer at the Trinity Partnership, described Charlotte as a young woman that was going to go far in life.

"Charlotte was a lovely young woman, who could be trusted to undertake any task and was certainly going to go far in life, what ever she chose to do. She was very a special person."

Peer educators would work about five or six hours a week for payment and training in youth work.

The Activate Project, set up in 1998 with £170,000 lottery cash, encouraged youngsters to say no to drugs through a range of activities including artwork, drama, role-playing and outdoor pursuits.