We’re supporting a project to help criminal justice system experienced women
A new three-year contract, worth £450,000 a year, has been awarded to Birmingham based women’s charity Anawim, to continue delivering the New Chance Scheme which has helped turn hundreds of women’s lives around.
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. We are supporting Anawim to deliver the project alongside other key partners Kairos, Black Country Women’s Aid and Changing Lives.
The funding for the New Chance Scheme, totalling £1.3million over three years, was awarded by Simon Foster, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.
Police and Crime Commissioner Simon 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.”
New Chance offers trauma-informed support, group work, advocacy and the provision of advice, guidance and information. An evaluation review by the University of Birmingham demonstrated that reoffending amongst New Chance service users with mental health issues was 35-37% lower and those who had substance misuse issues had a 51-55% decrease in reoffending.
Commenting on the renewed funding for New Chance scheme, Tracey Grego, our Head of Service Support said: “We are delighted to work alongside Anawim and other key partners to deliver this project, which will support women across the West Midlands to make positive changes.
“We are grateful to the Police and Crime Commissioner for backing the innovative New Chance scheme, which we believe will reduce reoffending across the region and, in turn, save the taxpayer money and make our communities safer.”
Further details can be found here: