East Lancashire Women's Centres has been awarded a share of £3.5m in funding, Justice Minister Crispin Blunt has announced.

This one-year package, funded by National Offender Management Service (NOMS), will be shared across 30 centres helping female offenders, and those at risk of offending, turn away from a life of crime.

More than 5,000 women this year are expected to benefit from these centres which focus on addressing the root causes of offending, including substance abuse and issues around domestic and sexual violence.

Crispin Blunt, Minister for Prisons and Probation, said: "We are committed to tackling offending among women and these centres continue to play an important role in helping keep our communities safer. "We know female offenders are less likely than men to commit crime and less likely to re-offend but when they do it is our responsibility to ensure they are successfully rehabilitated whether that is in the community or custody.

"I have seen first-hand a number of these centres in action and the challenging and impressive work they do in turning lives around and stopping offending."

The Minister announced the full package when he addressed the Corston Independent Funders' Coalition in London yesterday.

After the next financial year, national funding will continue to be provided to local areas but decisions on how it is distributed will be made at a local level by agencies who know best where the pressures and needs are within their own communities.

As part of the 2007 Corston Review, Baroness Corston made clear that women who do not pose a risk to the public, must be diverted from custody.

Since then, considerable work has been done to rehabilitate women through intensive community punishment coupled with support and these projects are the driving force behind this work.

Sarah Swindley, East Lancashire Women's Centre Manager, said: "We are delighted to receive this funding which helps us continue to provide this much needed provision for women in East Lancashire.

During the next financial year we will be working with our strategic partners to roll out this service into all five boroughs of East Lancashire."

Since April 2011 Lancashire Probation Trust has located offender managers at the centre in Wellington Street, St Johns, along with its counterpart centre in Accrington, to provide a women only environment for female offenders to report for their appointments.