23. Keep Sheffield Stainless - helping to buy knife amnesty bins - August 2020

We are pleased to be making another £300 donation this week.  Thanks to our member Phil for telling us about Anthony Olaseinde who runs  ‘Always an Alternative’ - a non-profit organisation whose aim is to reduce serious youth violence: Knife crime, gun crime and gangs by engaging the youthful minds of today. 

We hear in the news about the worrying increase in knife crime around the UK, including Sheffield, in recent years .  Anthony wanted to do something to try to change this, realising that young people were the main target and offenders of these attacks.  3 years ago he decided to try and reduce knife crime by educating the youth of Sheffield through a campaign called Keep Sheffield Stainless.

At Keep Sheffield Stainless, a team of volunteers work to create a safe place for those affected by knife crime to come together, and to reduce the number of knives on the street. They want to significantly reduce the number of people injured and killed by knives. 

They also offer educational workshops aimed at individuals who are deemed “high risk”. This could be determined by teachers, parents, carers and professionals who are worried about a child becoming involved in serious youth violence. They believe any child can change their mindset and find their own alternative.

Something they are focusing on at the moment is a free knife/weapon collection and disposal service in and around Sheffield. Their volunteers work to reduce knife crime by safely collecting weapons in an agreed location – while following police guidelines and documenting all collections.

Anthony told us he would like to put our donation towards purchasing more portable knife amnesty bins to place strategically around the city.  These bins offer people a safe option for disposing of their weapons anonymously.  If someone has nowhere to dispose of a weapon they are more likely to use it or allow someone else to use it.  A weapon disposed of in these bins is a weapon that cannot be used by someone else and is potentially a life saved.

We really liked what we heard about Keep Sheffield Stainless and their work particularly with young people,  trying to combat violent crime.  We hope Anthony will keep in touch and update us about his work.