Stone Soup Academy Stands Up to Knife Crime

Head of the Sustainable Communities Programme, Amina Khalid, recently attended Stone’s Soup Academy Stand Up to Knife Crime annual event at the end of July. Stone Soup Academy is an Alternative Provision Free School Academy based in Nottingham who works with local schools and local authorities to ensure that students who fail to thrive in a mainstream school environment have the best educational alternative. Many of the students at this Academy have been directly impacted by the intersected issues that arise from knife crime.

The event was both moving and inspiring as it highlighted and reminded us all the devastating affect that gang and knife crime has on our young people, their families as well as the ripple affect it has on the communities. The evening was packed with the sharing of lived stories both by young victims and parents who lost their loved ones. There was music, film and spoken word poetry to convey the importance of coming together to raise awareness and change perceptions of knife crime in our community. Powerful speeches were given by key stakeholders including the Hight Sheriff of Nottinghamshire Veronica Moraa Pickering MBS DL first woman of colour and the first Kenyan to hold the historic role.