Stories of Former Extremists - The ConnectJustice Crowdfunder

Stories of Former Extremists - The ConnectJustice Crowdfunder

BIRMINGHAM, England, March 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --



Five films, five formers.



Crowdfunder link (including a one-minute video)



https://peoplesrepublic.co/p/connectjustice/
[https://peoplesrepublic.co/p/connectjustice ]



"Those who have 'been there, done that' have a compelling story to tell us about why
people join and then turn away from extremism.We want all our communities to better
understand these complexities in order to create solutions, so that the politics of fear
do not divide us."



Prof. Lynn Davies



ConnectJustice - a Birmingham-based social enterprise which builds trust between
communities, police and state agencies around extremism and exploitation, recently
launched a crowdfunder initiative to film former extremists. The film is a preventative
measure to stop people from joining violent extremism groups.



The film includes stories and powerful testimonials of five former UK extremists
(Islamists and far right) in a 15-minute film, to create a community-led counter narrative
on extremism.



By speaking to those who have "been there, done that", ConnectJustice aims to raise
GBP17,500 from a variety of community and individual backers. In less than two weeks the
community-led enterprise has already raised GBP5,500. The social enterprise only has until
30 March 2015 to meet its target and is appealing for support from communities to
business, to enable them to independently produce a free grass-roots film resource.



"We want to raise this money from communities, as we believe the project will gain
credibility if it is free from government funding, because we know that the problem needs
addressing from within all our communities. The Crowdsourcing route will help to produce a
free, practical, online video capturing the stories of former UK extremists because
connecting with 'real' voices is important in preventing and halting the path to
violence."



All monies raised will go directly into the project, and none of the money raised will
go to ConnectJustice.



ConnectJustice: http://www.connectjustice.org



2014/2015 EU-funded "Formers and Families" research . ConnectJustice have recently
completed interviewing 10 former extremists (far right and Islamists) and their family
members for a one-year, EU-funded research. This complements the joint research being
undertaken by Dutch and Danish researchers. A final report is due to be launched in May
2015.



Notes to editors



For further information and interviews, please contact Zubeda Limbada, +44-(0
)7984909001 or z.limbada@connectjustice.org




ConnectJustice


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