2. To raise awareness to travel safety abroad
#safetybeforeasale
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We are a fundraising charity supporting families torn apart by murder and terrorism, raising awareness to safety abroad and the Prevent programme.
“We have received amazing love and support from family and friends which helped us through the darkest of times and we are immensely grateful for that. There are people out there who don’t have a network around them.”
Our support is diverse - We help families who desperately need it. This include:-
We continue to be supported by family members, friends and our community Not every family has that love and support. That’s where we can help.
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All money donated to our charity supports bereaved families affected by murder and manslaughter across England and Wales. Your generosity means we can help families cope with their ordeal and smile again. We do this by providing respite, including a much-needed short break holiday to help families strengthen their relationship. We provide financial assistance to help pay for necessary items such as utility bills and special gifts for families who are financially impacted by their loss. Our support is varied from counselling to school uniforms, dance lessons to washing machines. Our aim is to make families feel loved and not alone #makingsmiles
Currently only one in three people check the Foreign Office Travel Advice (FCDO) before travelling and do not check it again once booked. We want to raise awareness before the point of sale. We are campaigning for all UK tour operators to audit their hotels, not just on health and safety but on security, checking they have a robust critical incident policy in place. Our campaign Safety Before A Sale is a challenging one, but something we feel very passionate about to save future lives.
To keep up to date with travel advice please read the government travel aware website with links to the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office Travel Advice (FCDO). This provides travel advice for 226 countries and must be checked before you book any travel arrangements and should be continued to be checked before departure.
To keep up to date with travel advice please read:
‘Prevent’ stops people from being drawn into criminal activity and offers a way out of extremism. It is rooted in a programme of support, delivered locally by teachers, healthcare practitioners, social workers, the police, charities, psychologists and religious leaders. It works in a similar way to other safeguarding processes designed to protect people from gangs, drug abuse, and physical and sexual exploitation.
The community Prevent programme is one of the four elements of our country’s counter terrorism strategy. It exists to stop people being drawn into terrorism
Often it is friends and family that are best placed to know when something doesn't feel right. If you are worried about a loved one, please ACT Early and seek advice.
Sometimes it is not easy to recognise we are being drawn down a dangerous path...
Too often we see young people in the UK being jailed for terrorism offences – often after being groomed online. This needs to stop. We know that early intervention is the most effective strategy to prevent hate escalating into something even more serious. But it requires parents, friends and families to help us by looking out for their loved ones and sharing any concerns about radicalisation. By working together as communities, we can save lives and defeat terrorism.
For more information go to https://www.actearly.uk and https://act.campaign.gov.uk.
The popular Channel 4 soap opera ‘Hollyoaks’ featured a storyline about radicalisation. A short video has been produced which follows the radicalisation journey of one of the characters. It also explores his experience with Prevent. The video is available to view here.
SmileForJoel are driven towards supporting local communities and schools within the Midlands to support the National Prevent programme. We work with West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit as guest speakers supporting Prevent. Our long term aim is to provide school workshops for children and adults discussing empathy and kindness.
Prevent must be a priority for everyone in our community, and is our most important strategy to tackle radicalisation and protect our most vulnerable.
If you wish to know more about SmileForJoel, or have any questions, please use the contact form.
Remember we love to see your pictures supporting SmileForJoel and your wristbands travelling around the world.
Please send them to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages along with the hashtag #smileforjoel. Click here for our wristband story.
