A UNIQUE project to help women in Bolton turn away from crime has been given an £80,000 boost.

Eve’s Space was launched last year to tackle the unusually high rate of crime among women in Bolton.

Now the project, which has already helped 300 women, will be able to continue for another year.

It is run by charity Urban Outreach, the probation service and Bolton Council.

Joanne Hickey, from the probation service, said: “The problems faced by many women who commit crime are extremely complex, and we are proving that addressing those issues at places like Eve’s Space can profoundly improve people’s lives.

“By working in partnership with organisations like Urban Outreach we are able to stop women from re-offending, and therefore decrease the number of victims of crime in the town and help make the area a safer place to live.”

Research is also being carried out to find out why women in Bolton are committing crime — 17 per cent of female criminals in Greater Manchester come from Bolton.

The aim of Eve’s Space is to prevent women who commit crime — and those who are at risk of committing crime — from falling foul of the law.

Project bosses say that the re-offending rate among women who have taken part is low. Eve’s Space works by giving women a female-only environment where they can get support for issues which underpin their crime, such as being victims of domestic abuse, problems with accommodation, drug abuse, finances and mental health.

The £80,000 funding has come from the Government and a group of charitable organisations called Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition.

It costs £45,000 per year to keep someone in prison for a year, and £24,000 per year to look after a child, whose mother is in prison, so Urban Outreach chief executive Dave Bagley said Eve’s Space only has to stop one woman with two children going to jail to pay for itself.

He said: “It’s fantastic news to get this funding.

It’s very good for Bolton and very good for vulnerable women and families.”