Here at JAN Trust we are devastated to hear about yet another attack that has taken the lives of 23 people and injured at least 59 others. Our thoughts are with the families, friends and loved ones of the victims at this awful time.

The attack, which took place after an Ariana Grande concert at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena last night, is particularly shocking as it seems to have been targeted at children and young people.

The unnamed man who carried out the attack died in the explosion. So far one 23-year old has been arrested and a flat in south west Manchester has been raided.

For our director, Sajda Mughal, terrorist attacks always take her back to the time 12 years ago when she was a victim of terrorism in the 7/7 attacks in London, which killed 52 people and injured many more.

But for Sajda, these events also highlight why she dedicated her life to work at the heart of communities to prevent and tackle extremism. Since the horrific events of 7^th July 2005, Sajda has been at the forefront in working with mothers and families in preventing others suffering this fate by developing the pioneering Web Guardians ™ programme, aimed at preventing radicalisation and online extremism via an intensive educational programme.

What this latest attack makes clear is the need for more pre-emptive action to prevent people from becoming radicalised by predatory extremists, rather than attempting to make arrests in the aftermath. With the growing presence of extremist groups online, both from the far right and extremist Muslim groups, this should be a matter of national priority. Ultimately, it is only with education that we can defeat this scourge.

At this terrible time it is important to remember that we need to stand together and that we don’t let terrorism achieve its aims of division and hatred. 

And, as was the case in London in the aftermath of the recent attack in Westminster, this is what is happening in Manchester. In the wake of the attack, Mancunians showed a heart-warming level of solidarity – taxi drivers offered free lifts to people who had attended the concert, many people offered rooms in their homes to victims, with the hashtag #RoomForManchester immediately trending on Twitter, and blood banks have had to start turning donors away as so many people have turned up to donate.

JAN Trust would like to reiterate the statement made by Manchester’s Mayor, Andy Burnham, who has said has said, “Let’s not descend into a situation of mutual distrust between our communities. The individual who carried this out is an extremist and doesn’t represent any of our communities and does not represent the people of Greater Manchester in any way, shape or form.” We at JAN Trust stand together in the face of terrorism and will not let fear seep into our communities and divide Britain.