Pupils surrender knives to police after Bolton workshop

HIGH school pupils in Bolton have attended workshops as part of the police force’s efforts to tackle knife crime - with some handing over their weapons straight over to officers in the aftermath.

‘Let’s End the Hurt’ training sessions were delivered to secondary school pupils across Bolton throughout the 2020/21 academic year.

Chief Inspector Mike Russell and colleagues from GMP’s Bolton district met more than 16,000 pupils from 20 schools to help raise awareness of knife crime and the devastating impact carrying a weapon can have.

The workshops covered the reasons why young people may feel the need to carry a knife, the dangers of handling knives, the laws around knife crime, as well as providing advice on how to avoid becoming a victim of it.

The sessions also provide pupils with an insight into the devastating affect knife crime has on the offender’s families, friends and the community.

Mr Russell said: “The Let’s End the Hurt campaign was developed following recent knife crime incidents in Bolton.

“This training focuses on issues and subjects that the young people in our local communities have raised with us.

“We want to ensure that every workshop we do is more current and relevant than the last, and that the campaign develops based on the feedback we receive from pupils and teachers.

“The most pleasing aspect is that after two of the sessions, two knives were surrendered, which is fantastic as it shows the impact the training is having on young people. I believe the training session has given pupils a platform to engage and open up to us, and has enabled us to break down the barriers between young people and the police.”

The training was delivered in schools by two officers who introduced the video and took questions from pupils and teachers throughout the session.

One teacher praised the training, saying: “What a fantastic step forward this is for Bolton, not just in creating community links between schools and the police, but also in engaging our young people with the real dangers of knife crime and the personal responsibility that we all have.”

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