A NEW project to help the rising number of Muslim ex-offenders reintegrate into their community has been awarded a £15,000 grant.

The University of Central Lancashire Reaching Out rehabilitation and reintegration scheme has already received backing from Ministry of Justice and department of Business Innovation and Skills.

The new funding from both the Lancashire Probation Trust and NHS England will focus on specific and individual needs of the service users in order to help them to avoid re-offending.

Dr Christine Hough, lecturer in education at the school of education and social science at UCLan, said: “I am very proud to be involved in this project which provides a unique level of specialist support for vulnerable BME offenders. “Never before has the rehabilitation and social re-integration of this cohort of offenders been more critical.”