AN educational programme created in Bradford that looks at the difficult decisions people involved in war and conflict have to make has been chosen to be part of a national government programme.

Choices - Then and Now was devised by The Peace Museum, based in Bradford City Centre. Timed to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of the beginning of the First World War last year, the programme looks not only at war, but choices made by people who fought or chose not to fight, such as conscientious objectors.

Launched in 2014, the programme has already proved a huge success, rolled out in education authorities across the country. The museum had already received a grant from the Armed Forces Community Covenant to expand the programme, and now the Home Office is using it as part of its Prevent strategy.

Prevent was set up by the government to prevent young people from becoming radicalised and to tackle extremist ideology.

The strategy has proved controversial in some quarters, with many in the Muslim community claiming it unfairly targets Islam.

But the museum staff behind Choices.. say the programme is a very different way of thinking from some of the more controversial aspects of Prevent, and rather than tell people the right way to think, it is all about encouraging to make their own informed choices.

Discussing the endorsement from the Home office, the latest Peace Museum newsletter says: "This is a significant endorsement of the resource and of the Peace Museum’s role in countering extremism, and interest is being expressed by a number of local authorities."

It is among the various Prevent policies used by Bradford Council to tackle issues of extremism in schools, and in recognition of its success the Home office is suggesting it be used by other authorities.

Taking inspiration from the Great War, the programme compares the choices faced by people 100 years ago to the choices faced by people involved in conflicts today.

Based at Piece Hall Yard, the museum is only open for one day a week, but in recent years has spread its influence to more schools and community groups, as well as hosting numerous outreach events. In October there will be a Choices... exhibition at Bradford Playhouse.

Jude Wright, project manager of Choices, said: "Choices is a brilliant project, and to have the support from the Armed Forces Community Covenant means we can be offering more to people from across Yorkshire, as well as organising more visits to schools and working with more youth and community groups to explore these quite difficult questions in a creative context.

"The project is basically about thinking about things from lots of different points of view.

"The fact that the Home Office chose it out of all the other different models in the country as having some of the best practice is fantastic, especially for a small museum like us. It means we are standing with the big boys and can really make a difference.

"We all want our children to make the right choices. We are not affiliated with any groups, we are not a campaigning organisation, we are about getting people to come together in a difficult world.

"The project looks at the war in a holistic way - including the people who chose not to go to fight, and the women who chose to stand up against the war. It asks people what choices they would make.

"It has already been picked up by a few local authorities and we are rolling it out further.

"Prevent and trying to stop radicalisation can be a tough thing for teachers to work out - it is not necessarily their area of expertise. I think this project really helps. It is very current in all sorts of levels when you look what is going on in the world.

"The project is a real credit to the team who created it in the first place."