On Saturday a knife crime awareness event took place at St Josephs Parish Centre, Maidenhead.  

The event organised by Maidenhead Central PCSO Jason Miller & members of a community group he helped set up - called RBWM Heritage Hub, was a preventative event to help educate the community about knife crime & for the audience to listen to first hand experiences from parents of murdered teenagers (mostly) from across Berkshire, in recent years. 

The event was also a cultural day to bring people from all walks of life together to listen to the guest speakers, enjoy music, engage with the community stands & eat tasty food (some of which was supplied by Maidenhead Gurdwara & the Sikh community) & to help strengthen relations with Thames Valley Police. 

The event was a resounding success with over 120 people in attendance, including representatives from 30 different groups & organisations & covered by BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC South TV, Maidenhead Advertiser, Express Newspapers & Police TV.

We wanted to raise awareness of what can happen if you carry a knife to ask many people across Thames Valley & beyond & we believe we have reached in excess of 200000 people.

At the event we had mothers of knife crime murder victims sharing their harrowing stories & the impact it has had on them, their families / friends & community. 

Ollie Stephens, aged 13 years old killed in Reading. 

Temur Qureshi, aged 19 years old killed in Slough.

Kamari Johnson, aged 16 years old killed in Hayes.

Father of Abdul Aziz Answari, aged 18 years killed in Slough. 

Windsor & Maidenhead doesn't have a knife crime problem & fortunately stabbings are rare, it's better to prevent, than to respond to knife crime & that's what the event was all about. 

Special thank you to Louis Baylis Trust & Thames Valley Police for supporting this event.

Also thank you to the following people. 

Assistant Chief Constable Dennis Murray of TVP

Joshua Reynolds MP

RBWM Mayor Councillor Simon Bond. 

Sean Taylor High Sheriff of Berkshire 

Andrew Fuller founder of Hood Lessons 

Rhiannon Dineen founder of Communities Against Violence 

Thames Valley Afro-Caribbean Heritage Society

St Josephs Parish Centre

Slough Youth Parliament 

4 parents of murdered sons

Maidenhead Gurdwara

All the community stands 

Also to the wider community for supporting & attending this event.

Further details of this event can be found in most local newspapers (out this week)

The public can dispose of knives at any of the knife amnesty bins located across the area - click on the Thames Valley Police link below for your nearest bin.  https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/c/2021/knives-ruin-lives/