Building resilience through sport and education pathways.
“Our aim is to work with sporting pathways and education establishments to increase public knowledge of radicalisation, whilst promoting resilience tolerance and diversity. We do this by working with, sporting pathways, schools and educational establishments in diverse communities”
We can offer this through The Joel Richards Foundation.
Smileforjoel also promote and support the current community Prevent programme. This is one of the four elements of our country’s counter terrorism strategy. It exists to help build resilience and stop people being drawn into terrorism
What is ‘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.
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.
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