The Borough of Haringey has pledged to provide educational resources and awareness for young people to mark Knife Crime Awareness Week.
Haringey Council has organised an array of preventative events and interventions to mark their Week of Action, starting on 19 May, with the overall aim of encouraging children and young people away from dangerous activities.
The initiative comes after the north London borough recorded the highest number of knife crime incidents in the capital between 2022 and 2023, with 632.
Haringey Councillor Ajda Ovat said: “As a council, we’re determined to do all we can to minimise the risks of our children and young people falling victims to knife crime.
“One young life lost to knife crime on the streets of the capital is one too many.”
Police in the borough will conduct weapon sweeps and patrol key hotspots, while Haringey Council’s Trading Standards team will partake in test purchasing of weapons to warn surrounding businesses of the dangers of non-compliance.
The project will also see the council work with local partner agencies including the Metropolitan Police and nearby schools to collaborate on the issue.
Young people and the wider Haringey community will be invited to take part in initiatives including visits to an anti-knife crime exhibition at the Ben Kinsella Trust, as well as utilising online resources such as counselling and toolkits.
The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation is another partner of the council, with the club running a football tournament designed to emphasize teamwork and show the power that sport can have in turning young people away from dangerous behaviour.
Haringey’s initiative comes alongside the council’s ten-year Young People at Risk Strategy, with the borough making a pledge to protect and support young people from violence, abuse and exploitation.
Supportive family environments, flourishing educational spaces and an assurance of a safe community are just some of the outcomes that the council hopes to achieve by 2029, with anti-knife crime awareness a key feature of the strategy.
Previous anti-knife crime projects from the Haringey council have included a three-part short film series titled ‘I’m Out’, showing the impact youth violence can have on surrounding communities and the wider area.
Haringey Council’s cabinet member for children, schools and families Zena Brabazon said: “Knife crime and gang violence doesn’t just account for one young life.
“It can have a profoundly devastating and everlasting effect on many more people. It leaves an indelible mark and that’s precisely why we must do all we can to prevent it.”
Feature image: sludgegulper/Free to use via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
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