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    Protect guidance for faith communities

    What the risk looks like in your sector

    Places of worship are open and welcoming spaces that serve as important community hubs. Their accessibility and visibility can make them vulnerable to targeted attacks or hate-related incidents, particularly during periods of heightened national or international tension.

    Possible risks may include:

    • hate crime linked to extremist narratives
    • suspicious packages
    • vehicle threats
    • online hostility or threats
    • increased community tension following national incidents

    What Martyn's Law may require

    Places of worship and associated buildings that are open to the public and meet capacity thresholds may fall within scope of Martyn's Law.

    If applicable, faith organisations may be required to:

    • register qualifying premises
    • assess terrorism-related risks proportionately
    • put in place clear procedures for responding to an incident
    • ensure staff and volunteers understand their roles in an emergency
    • review and update plans regularly

    The legislation is designed to be proportionate. Smaller premises will not be expected to introduce complex security infrastructure, but should ensure basic awareness and planning is in place.

    See our Martyn's Law guidance page for full details and thresholds.

    Understanding more about the threat

    The threat from terrorism is real and increasingly unpredictable, with publicly available spaces and crowded areas being an attractive target for a terrorist. The latest threat level can be found on Protect UK (opens new window) and MI5 (opens new window) websites. To receive threat level updates, subscribe to MI5's threat level alert RSS feed.

    Immediate Steps

    Immediate steps you can take to strengthen your protection are as follows:

    Complete free Counter Terrorism awareness training online, share with all staff and volunteers to raise awareness across your organisation. 

    Review site security, ensuring that existing vulnerabilities are addressed such as faults with existing doors and locks, CCTV cameras, and other security measures. Consider and adopt measures to keep your establishments safe using the crime prevention toolkit.

    Create or review existing Counter Terrorism response plans. Exercise and test them, and ensure staff are aware of how to respond in the event of an attack.

    First Aid Provision

    Ensure you have adequate first aid provisions (opens new window) such as a Publicly Accessible Trauma (PAcT) Kit (opens new window) and all staff have completed Counter Terrorism first aid awareness training (opens new window).

    NPSA have additional first aid guidance for high risk individuals (opens new window).

    What information should I be putting online?

    Religious groups regularly publish detailed information about their venues and events which, whilst useful for their congregation and community, can also be useful to those wishing to undertake a hostile act against their venue, event or people. These acts could range from petty criminality, such as theft, to ideologically, religiously, or politically motivated acts, like terrorism.

    The Security Minded Communications for Religious Establishments Guidance (opens new window) provides information on the concept of Security-Minded Communications, which should be considered when publishing information for the public.

    How do I stay safe at home, at work, on the move and online?

    Our own security, and the safety of those close to us, is of great importance. The more you do to protect yourself, the better protected you and your family will be. Whilst we cannot predict or control everything that might happen to us, there are some steps we might choose to take to mitigate and avoid risk. The Blue Book: A Guide to Personal Security (opens new window) is a practical guide that brings together advice and simple steps to help you build and maintain your own personal security plan in everyday situations.

    More information and resources

    Venues and Public Spaces (VaPS) Guidance (opens new window) provides protective security advice in a number of sectors and scenarios. It covers the key forms of protective security: physical, personnel, cyber and personal, and helps give guidance on how different sectors can act to help make their businesses, institutions or organisations safer. Some sections have been linked below.

    Action Cards

    The following resources contain actionable guidance that can be followed during an attack and are in a printable format to be used in your organisation.

    Faith Security Training

    The Home Office has recently launched Faith Security Training (FST) (opens new window)- a free scheme designed to help faith communities in England and Wales strengthen their security awareness and preparedness.

    Delivered by CDS Support (a specialist defence and security consultancy), this training provides practical guidance to keep places of worship safe and resilient.

    The event is targeted at faith leaders, trustees, volunteers, and anyone responsible for, or interested, in, security at places of worship.

    Please register for a virtual or face-to-face session with security experts.

    For further information, please visit the FST webpage, or email [email protected]

    Additional Resources

    Trust your instincts and report - Action Counters Terrorism

    Have you seen or heard something that doesn't feel right? Could it be related to terrorism? Trust your instincts and report your concerns (opens new window). Always call 999 in an emergency

     

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