Young people take part in tournament to kick out knife crime

Young people from across Merseyside came together this week to help tackle knife crime at a police-organised tournament.

The event was organised by Merseyside Police’s Safer Schools Co-ordinator Faye Smith and took place at the Anfield Sports and Community Centre on Thursday 2 May, with support from the LFC Foundation, Everton in the Community and Tranmere Rovers in the Community.

The tournament forms part of the force’s dedicated approach to tackling serious violence and knife crime through education, prevention and engagement.

90 young people aged 11-13 from schools in Liverpool, Knowsley and Wirral took part in the round-robin football tournament, which was interspersed with short sessions on the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife.

The police’s Fairness in Policing team delivered an engaging session focused on myth busting and knowing your rights, including when and why the police use stop and search powers. Matrix officers also spoke to the group about how they tackle and disrupt knife crime across Merseyside to protect the public.  

Charitable social enterprise KnifeSavers, which originates from the Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, educated the young people on how to act quickly to control major bleeding from any injury and emphasised that there is no such thing as a safe place to stab someone.

The day concluded with a creative session from award-winning spoken word artist Joseph Roberts. Joseph worked with the young people to create a short poem titled 'Today Was Not About Footy', which was inspired by the children's thoughts, ideas and feelings towards the day and how we can create safer communities. 

Faye Smith, Safer Schools Co-ordinator at Merseyside Police said: “The goal of today was to deliver a powerful message that knives have no place in Merseyside. Alongside the competitive matches, the young people learnt more about the role of the police, the dangers of knife crime and the impact it can have on themselves and others.

“Events like this play an important part of prevention and give young people the knowledge and confidence to say no to carrying weapons and where they can go to for help and support.”

For advice and information, please visit Merseyside Police’s dedicated Stop Knife Crime Hub.

Young people and parents can pass on information about crime anonymously to Fearless, part of Crimestoppers by visiting www.fearless.org or calling 0800 555 111.