A SCHEME which provides women with an opportunity to turn their lives around has been given a £1.3million boost.

The New Chance scheme is a specialist project for women who have been arrested, with the aim of diverting them away from the Criminal Justice System at an early stage.

A new three-year contract, worth £450,000 a year, has been awarded to Birmingham based women’s charity Anawim by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster, to continue delivering the project which has helped turn hundreds of lives around.

New Chance offers trauma-informed support, group work, advocacy and the provision of advice, guidance and information.

An evaluation by the University of Birmingham demonstrates that reoffending amongst New Chance service users with mental health issues was 35-37 per cent lower and those who had substance misuse issues identified had a 51-55 per cent decrease in reoffending.

Mr Foster said: “The New Chance project has been a real success story here in the West Midlands and I am pleased to be able to fund it through Anawim for a further three years.

“We know that women are all too often in the criminal justice system, because of underlying causes, relating to mental ill health, alcohol or drug use, domestic abuse or criminal exploitation.

“This project will continue to work with women, to help prevent and tackle these root causes of crime and to help and support them to a more positive future.”

Joy Doal, Anawim chief executive, said: “We are so happy that this vital work will continue, and has the added security of multiyear funding. We also welcome the fact that the possibility of a postcode lottery is reduced and all women across the West Midlands will now receive a comparative service.

“We would like to thank West Midlands Police and the PCC for their support in making this a success.

“And for believing in this innovative way of assisting women to turn away from offending for good and be positive influences in their communities, positively impacting on children – and others – and contributing towards a better life for us all.”