Stop Knives Taking Lives, ChronicleLive/The Chronicle

Stop Knives Taking Lives, ChronicleLive launched the Stop Knives Taking Lives campaign in February following a devastating spate of fatal stabbings in the North East which saw three teenagers lose their lives in just four months.

The region mourned the loss of Tomasz Oleszak, 14, from Gateshead, Gordon Gault, 14, from Benwell in Newcastle, and 15-year-old Holly Newton, from Haltwhistle, Northumberland. ChronicleLive launched the campaign to call on every community in the North East to come together to tackle knife crime. We wanted to use our voice to remember those who lost lives and help call for and implement change. We have worked together with Northumbria Police, politicians and victims’ families. As part of the campaign we are calling for parents and teachers to talk to their children and educate them about the dangers of carrying knives. We call for individuals to speak to the police when they know of someone carrying a blade or involved in a crime. The more awareness and education for young people about knife crime, the better. We worked with the police to highlight knife amnesties and stop and search checks and grieving families spoke to us about the devastating impact young people with knives have had on them. We also visited a local hospital to highlight a simulation experience where teenagers can feel the devastating impact of knife crime. We have helped highlight the calls for shops to stock ‘safer’ knives without points and we have also raised awareness about businesses helping the fight - such as a gym offering free classes to kids in a bid to keep them off the streets

In April we ran a Facebook Live Q&A, led by Crime Reporter Sophie Doughty, giving readers the chance to ask Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness and Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Helena Barron about knife crime and hear what they are doing to tackle the crisis. Kim McGuinness has regularly backed our campaign as well as a senior officer at Northumbria Police, Assistant Chief Constable, Brad Howe. He said: “We back The Chronicle’s knife crime campaign and welcome initiatives which encourage communities to come together to help keep our region safe. “As a society, we all have a collective responsibility to tackle knife crime.”

We have a dedicated page on the website for the campaign where you can view all the content we have produced since the campaign launched. The campaign was recently nominated for the Journalism Matters ‘Making a Difference’ award