A NATIONAL charity hopes to use some of its £750,000 of funding to turn youngsters from Blackburn and Burnley away from hate-related offending.

Anne Frank Trust UK aims to roll out the Anne Frank ambassadors programme to 12 cities and towns across five regions, using the money from the Big Lottery Fund.

This project aims to prevent hate-related offending among 11 to 14-year-olds living in areas with high community tension and deprivation.

The programme sets out to challenge prejudice and prevent a move towards hate-related offending.

The trust was inspired by the wartime story of Anne, who as a young girl fled the Nazis to Holland with her Jewish parents.

She kept a daily diary from the age of 13 as the family lived in hiding before being betrayed and transported to a concentration camp where she died.

Her father survived and published the diary.

A spokeswoman for the charity said: “The aim is to promote a change in attitudes.

“We are currently working in Blackpool and then Manchester and then the funding will be used.”

Although the towns have not been confirmed yet, the charity said it hoped to work in Blackburn and Liverpool, and possibly Burnley – depending on links with local partner organisations.

The towns are due to be announced in July.