Story by John Malkin | Photo courtesy of Rock Christian Centre
The Words4Weapons bin, located on Handley Street, was emptied for a second time recently, revealing a shocking haul of dangerous articles inside.
When it was first emptied last year, a mere five knives were found inside. This time though, almost forty weapons were found.
There were 32 knives inside the bin, ranging from bread knives to machetes, and even a full blown sword. Also found were two air guns, a catapult, a ‘police style’ baton and a large number of hypodermic needles. All have now been safely disposed of.
Rock Christian Centre has announced it is funding the bin for a further two years and is talking to other churches about getting a second one in the city.
Recognising the fact that there are people in this city who carry and use knives to cause harm to others and the communities they belong to, the team at Pitsmoor Adventure Playground have also been working with colleagues across the city to try to challenge knife crime.
They held a free training workshop for local adventure playground workers and practitioners, delivered by Alan Hancock from POINT7. POINT7 is an interactive programme created to give students a broader understanding of the ‘real’ effects on the lives of ‘real’ people of weapon-related crime. It also covers cyber bullying and other topics related to violent crime.
Alan told us:
‘’We all have a part to play in the solution no matter who we are. If we change the way we look at things, maybe the things we look at will change.”
Patrick Meleady, Pitsmoor Adventure Playground manager, said:
“This is a strong resilient city that lives in fear for its young children. We hope that the small steps we’ve taken today have given the workers and volunteers the additional understanding and skills to mitigate the impact on their communities and it’s children.”
