23/08/2024 - Join us for a Walk of Remembrance and to say ‘farewell’ to the Knife Angel

The Knife Angel’s time in our town will conclude with a Walk of Remembrance on Thursday 29 August, beginning at 4 pm from St Mary’s Church and ending in St George’s Square. At 6pm in the Square, there will be a speech from the Mayor, Councillor Tahmina Saleem, followed by an opportunity for those directly affected by knife crime to speak, and to remember their loved ones.

Everyone is welcome to come along and say ‘farewell’ to the Knife Angel as it travels on to Havering, where we hope it resonates with the community as much as it has in Luton.

The Knife Angel’s visit to Luton was focused on building community partnerships to support children and young people, and to build the resilience to reject violent behaviour. As part of this, the ARTful voices exhibition took place at the Hat Factory Arts Centre, which showcased creations from young people across the town. These included recordings of spoken poetry, displays of written poetry, paintings, drawings and more. 

Robin Porter, Chief Executive of Luton Council, said: “The issues associated with knife crime and criminal exploitation are deep rooted, and changing the behaviour of those involved is extremely challenging. We have been working across our Community Safety Partnership to be persistent and unified in our approach. The Knife Angel’s visit to Luton isn’t just a single ‘stunt’ but is building on the amazing work with our community to tackle the scourge of knife crime. “

The legacy of the Knife Angel visit to Luton will resonate for many years and the partnership approach to strengthening our resolve as part of the planning and delivery means that we will have communities who have the resilience and ability to work effectively with those at risk of or indeed involved in knife crime.

You can find out more about the Knife Angel’s visit to Luton at knifeangelluton.com.