Families | Small Steps Hub

Extremism Hurts Families

What You Need to Know

We all know how extremism can hurt its victims and those who get involved,

but what about the parents or carers of someone involved?

Often overlooked, we know from personal experience how families suffer when a loved one gets involved and succumbs to extremist messaging.

Looking to show the reality of this, this dedicated families page will look at how involvement impacts parents and highlight potential questions about how families can be supported.

To make sure families don't feel alone or judged, we want people who have attended our training to think about

how parents and families could be supported.

We want you to think, about what support they need and what you could do or your place of work

do to support families going through this.

Here what we would like you to do is have a discussion after each video about how families can be supported, what they need and what can be offered.

Seeking to upskill users of this site, we want you to think about what you could do to help.

How would you engage with someone who had a son, daughter or family member involved? Could you listen, offer support, advice and know where to signpost people to for specialist support?

Supporting families, in 2016, Small Steps helped establish the Exit Hate Trust charity (1197666).

Dedicated to helping people impacted directly by extremism, Exit's focus is to help individuals leave and families cope with the heartache and trauma of having a loved one involved with extremism.

If you have a question, need support or just need a talk, you can reach out to either ACT Early at - https://actearly.uk/

Or for lived experience support, you can talk to a family member who has been through this themselves.

Exit Hate Trust has a dedicated family support programme,

which includes parents who have had a loved one involved, so they understand and never judge.

To find out more, please visit - https://www.exithate.com

Email - info@exithate.org or call 0800 999 1945

Supporting families, we know how extremism has a dramatic and sometimes devastating impact on families with a loved one involved in extremism.

To highlight the impact on families and urge people to support them, we have created a number of videos

which tell their stories.

Please watch and share these stories, so more people become aware of the heartache many families are going through and how they need support as well.

Extremist Impact On Families Explained

Families Need Support

Non-stop Fun

Having watched this video, we hope you can see how extremism can impact any family

and see the effect it can have on mothers.

Showing the reality of how, at one end, people can be helped to leave and how, at the other end,

if missed extremism can take lives, this video shows how families need critical support now.

Once you have watched each video, please take some time to reflect and

discuss how the video makes you feel, and have a talk about what support each parent needed.

First Look

Emma Needed Help - What Would You Do?

Emma's story is not uncommon, having witnessed multiple families struggling to understand how a loved one can become involved in extremism is heartbreaking and this is why we train people to understand the issues.

Supporting people like Emma, we need your help, to provide support at local level.

Often a listening ear can change lives by opening a door to specialist support, but without people like you using this website to open that door, many families could remain isolated, so what can be done?

So how could you help Emma? What would you say, what help could you give and what support does she need?

Here why not split into groups and discuss how you think Emma can be supported and what she needs.

Once your groups have had a discussion, feedback to others and let's see what people think and

how people like Emma can be supported.

A Gaming Classic Comes Back Even Better Than Before

Gavin Felt Ashamed

Gavin struggled when he found out his son was involved in a Neo-Nazi group.

He couldn't understand how his son could do it.

Ashamed by the actions of his son, Gavin didn't want to talk to his friends or family because he felt like they wouldn't understand or would even judge his son, whom he adores.

Feeling lost, in pain, and his wits end, he and his wife looked online for support and found help,

but could he have been helped locally?

What do you think Gavin and his family needed? Was it different for him than for Emma?

If so, how and why? How could they be helped, and can you develop support locally?

What could you and those around you do?

Need Support Or
Want To Know More?

You are not alone.

Offering support from a lived experience perspective Exit Hate Trust,

our partner charity offers support from a lived experience perspective

as they have been there and never judge.

Sharing their experiences and specialist knowledge, Exit has created some excellent support publications, which we are pleased to offer here.

Simply click on the link of the title you would like to read.

There is no charge and it's all part of your service package.

Small Steps Introduction

This booklet outlines who Small Steps are and what services we offer.

What Is Prevent?

This simple booklet explains what Prevent is and how it can help.

For further booklets, please visit - https://www.exithate.com/resources1

Need more videos? Please visit our sister charity's video platform at -

https://www.dailymotion.com/user/ExitHate

For support for families,

please contact Act Early.

For more information, please visit: