This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council on behalf of Slough Children First for the attention of all schools.
On 29 January 2025 BBC aired a new documentary with Idris Elba (Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis - BBC iPlayer), highlighting the knife crime epidemic that the UK is facing.
The documentary gives insight into the work and Youth Just Services manage.
It also shows Faron Paul, knife crime survivor and anti-knife campaigner who works with a knife amnesty scheme called Faz Amnesty and has done various projects with Slough Children First and Slough Borough Council, delivering various sessions to the community of slough.
Sadly, some stats from the Ministry of Justice include:
- 4 people are stabbed to death per week in the UK on average,
- Perpetrators with the highest reoffending rats are children aged 10-17 years old
- Over 3 quarters of teenagers who were victims of serious violence were also perpetrators of violence.
- Over 25% of knives used are kitchen knives
Many of the young people committing these crimes say the same thing:
- They didn’t grow up in a good home.
- They struggled in school
- They had many exclusions
- They have childhood trauma
- They grew up in poverty
- They had no accountability or structure
Do have a watch on BBC/iPlayer if you can.