Word 4 Weapons
A Christian initiative to place special bins outside churches in Islington for knives expects to have collected more than 100 weapons.
What makes the knife amnesty different to the ones held by the police is that every young person who hands a knife in is given an ‘All I need’ pack, which contains a Bible, some gifts and information to help them turn their lives around.
Michael Smith, founder of Word 4 Weapons, believes the scheme, which was piloted in the London Borough of Islington, has helped to raise awareness of the sanctity of life, and to encourage younger people in particular to reconsider their attitudes towards using violence against another person.
He said that, depending on the success of the scheme, he would roll out the Word 4 Weapons initiative in other crime-ridden boroughs, such as Lambeth and Ealing.