Youth leaders and anti-knife crime campaigners staged an event in Stoke-on-Trent to talk directly to vulnerable young people in the city about the dangers of carrying a knife and why they may feel pressured into the need to do so.
Working alongside Ulysses Youth, the Hubb Foundation staged a summer holiday event combining young people’s love of music and sport.
But the DJ showcase held at Kix FC, Regent Road, Hanley, was a fun way to talk to young people about knife crime, a problem hitting communities across the UK.
Jane Sawyers, Chair of the Hubb Foundation, a former Chief Constable at Staffordshire Police, said: “Staffordshire Police’s Ditch the Blade campaign is making great strides in getting the message out there that 99 per cent of young people do not carry blades, as well as siting knife amnesty bins and knife arches across the city.
“However, we can always do more especially over the summer holidays when young people may feel more vulnerable and parents more worried.
“Our HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) programme is about far more than fun holiday activities – we have a genuine responsibility to educate young people about issues that affect them. This Ulysses Youth event achieves that and gives young people a platform to speak out while enjoying positive activities.”
Jane attended the event alongside other Hubb charity officials and youth leaders from Ulysses Youth. Knife crime campaigners Black Onyx Academy, from Burslem, were also there, as was Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central.
The adult leaders joined 11 to 18-year-olds kicking footballs, playing cards, and listening to music provided by Ditch the Blade rapper HarvStar. He told them he had lost family to knife crime adding “there is no need for the violence. I want to help with the message.”
Laura Bailey, founder of Ulysses Youth said it was important to listen to the manhy reasons why young people may carry a knife. She said vulnerable young people may be coerced into crime and carrying a knife may well become part of their lives.
Stefan Northfield of Black Onyx, told the youngsters they may feel they need to carry a knife for protection but statistically those who do so are far more likely to become stabbing victims.
Giving a demonstration of the workshops Black Onyx run, Stefan told his audience they were designed to help young people decide how they could be the best version of themselves.
By developing skills including teamwork, discipline, and resilience, his team was helping young people to aspire to be successful whatever they aspire to do. This happens by developing skills including teamwork, discipline, and resilience.
Gareth Snell MP said: “We want to celebrate the good stuff that is happening while we have to recognise there are young people in the city who for whatever reason feel like they have to carry a knife.
“We must look at what are the inherent dangers of that behaviour, the ways out of that, and what the consequences are if you don’t take the right choices?
“It is an important message to share but we need to do it in a way where we go to where young people are and where they are comfortable to communicate.
“It is not about lecturing young people about right or wrong, it is how we all make better choices. The fact we. In Stoke-on-Trent, are combining it with the Hubb Foundation Holiday Activities and Food programme, and with places, such as this, where we know young people that may be at risk are coming anyway, just means that we are going to have a better, safer city”
For more information on The Hubb Foundation’s HAF programme and Ulysses Youth events visit https://www.thehubbfoundation.com/what-s-on-1/. For details of Black Onyx Academy visit https://blackonyxacademy.com/ .
For further information contact: Nigel Howle at Howle Communications Tel: 0776 2043436. E-mail: nigel.howle@howlecom.co.uk
Featured post image: L2R Ulysses founder Laura Bailey, Hubb Foundation Chief Operating Officer Adam Yates, Youth spokesperson Deborah, 15, Labour (co-op) MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central Gareth Snell, Ditch the Knife DJ HarvStar (aka Harvey, 15), Black Onyx Academy Lead Stefan Northfield, Hubb foundation Chair Jane Sawyers and Hubb Foundation Patron Carol Shanahan join together at the Hubb foundation Holidays and Food (HAF) event at KIX FC to tackle knife crime.
