The family of Lee Rigby have urged people to "show their respect", saying the murdered soldier would not want anyone to exploit the event to cause division.
Their call came as far-right groups prepared for what could be their biggest mass mobilisation in years, including dozens of planned protests by the English Defence League (EDL) and a British National party (BNP) rally on Saturday in central London.
The statement, issued on behalf of relatives including Rigby's mother and stepfather Lyn and Ian, wife Rebecca and son Jack, said his friends included those of different beliefs and cultures, all of whom he treated "with the greatest of respect".
They said: "We would like to emphasise that Lee would not want people to use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others. We would not wish any other families to go through this harrowing experience and appeal to everyone to keep calm and show their respect in a peaceful manner."
There has been a sharp increase in reports of Islamophobic incidents since Rigby's death; more than 200 were reported to a hotline in the week following his murder in Woolwich, south-east London, on 22 May.
The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, had planned a six-mile march from Woolwich to Lewisham on Saturday. But the Metropolitan police changed the route to central London – between Millbank and the Cenotaph in Whitehall – because of fears that taking the original route could cause disorder.
At first, Griffin said on Twitter that he would defy the ban and he called on EDL leaders to join him. He appeared to back down a few hours later, tweeting: "Meet at permitted demo site. Marching to Cenotaph so maximum respect in dress & actions please."
Anti-racist campaigners say there could be as many as 60 EDL protests around England on Saturday, making it the largest far-right mobilisation in 30 years. Some of the biggest turnouts are expected in Birmingham, Luton and Leeds, and police forces have held emergency meetings to work out how to maintain order.
Groups opposed to the far right, such as Hope not Hate, and faith organisations have been organising their own activities. On Friday, representatives of Greenwich Islamic Centre, which has no links to the alleged attackers but became a focus because of its proximity to the murder site, hosted an event in which Muslim community leaders joined representatives from the Jewish, Anglican, Catholic and Sikh faiths to lay a wreath spelling "Peace" at Woolwich barracks, where Rigby was based.
It was preceded by a "tea and biscuits" event at the Greenwich centre, modelled on the much-praised impromptu efforts of a York mosque to charm a gathering of EDL would-be protesters earlier this week.
Tariq Abbasi, chair of the Greenwich centre's trustees, said it had enjoyed good relations in the local community for almost 30 years. He said: "We have now been pushed in at the deep end due to no fault of ours. It's very difficult."
He welcomed the re-routing of the BNP march away from the area: "The BNP's been around for years. I don't think they will ever stop being the BNP, so we have to deal with them. But it's less disruption, which is brilliant news."
Kevin McDonald, the Catholic archbishop of Southwark, among those at the event, said: "My problem with marches is that they communicate anger, and they elicit fear and then reciprocal anger. It's for the government to say who should and shouldn't march, but that's a big consideration. If you have a lot of people together expressing anger, it can be intimidating."
