Police, charities, hospital workers and dozens of students have come together to help address the problem of knife crime.
Students from Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) set up the event as part of their citizenship studies to draw on the different approaches to knife crime.
East Ham MP Stephen Timms made an appearance, having personally been a victim of knife crime in 2010.
“Sixth formers often feel unsafe in Newham. This was an impressive event, involving 48 ‘Life not Knife’ student ambassadors at the college. No punches were pulled,” he said.
“There were lots of hard hitting messages, designed to keep students safe. And it was great to hear it’s working: In the ten years NewVIc has been running these events, no students have been knife crime victims.”
Among the stalls at the Prince Regent Lane, Plaistow event were self-defence instructors who work with the school and the Met’s anti-gangs unit Trident.
Representatives from Royal London Hospital were also there. They are working to ensure that people admitted to hospital for knife wounds don’t become victims of knife crime again.
Visit the Recorder website tomorrow or pick up a copy of the paper next week for a full report on the event.
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