Prevent
![]() |
Prevent is a government strategy said to be aimed at stopping people being drawn into terrorism. It is part of an over-arching counter-terrorism strategy called Contest. Like the rest of Contest, Prevent is closely linked to foreign policy and military strategy. Prevent is not about catching terrorists, it is about identifying people who may be at risk of radicalisation, and supporting them to change direction in a way that will help them. There are a very small number of people who support terrorist activity, or are likely to. |
The vast majority of people need no convincing that terrorism is wrong and want to see it prevented.
The purpose of Prevent is to enlist the support of people in our country to reach the much smaller minority who may be drawn into terrorism, often through extremist views.
- help with family problems
- mental health support
- mentoring
- religious support.
People who are referred to Channel are not criminals, but may be at risk of committing an offence if not supported.
To give an example of how Channel works, a school may have concerns about a pupil who they feel is at risk of influence from an extremist group or individual. They would contact the Channel coordinator for advice and support, who in turn makes an assessment and may refer the pupil to the Channel panel if they were found to be at risk.
Within Luton, the Channel panel is a multi-agency group, chaired by the council. The panel would then offer any number of support options to safeguard the individual.

FAST - Families Against Stress & Trauma
FAST provides support to many in need, including one-to-one discussions, group sessions, or meetings with other trained professionals, including psychologists.

Inspire fights for human rights and gender equality, offers training and empowerment programmes for Muslim women.

- The most commonly used terms around the subjects of terrorism and extremism
- The reasons behind terrorism and the signs to look out for