This change will help to create hope that knife crime can be challenged visually and minimized if significant national awareness is held each year, including a one-minute silence. 

I am Collet Hunter, CEO of the James Ross Hunter Youth Support C.I.C and I am passionate about this change because I have lost my firstborn, James Ross Hunter to knife crime in 2014, only five years after moving from Jamaica to reside in the UK.  The choice to move to the UK was for James and his younger brother to learn and embrace their British heritage.   JRHYS believes that a national awareness and one minute silence will:

• Act to inform young people and those involved in knife crime to stop and think about their actions and how and where to seek help.
• Teach parents the warning signs of their child's involvement in knife crime and share information and make use of support networks.  
• Inform future generations about the dangers of knife crime and the consequences for humanity over many decades. 
• Create a day of knowledge and visual connection with communities and schools making a difference.
   

On one sad day in 2014 Jame's life was senselessly taken while attempting to save another young man from a gang attack in the vicinity of Sydenham, painfully only minutes away from our home.  The terrifying visions of walking down to the location after receiving the call about the incident still remain terrifying up to this very day.  I recalled that only weeks prior to the tragic incident we had dialogue in our home about the lack of awareness of knife crime as a result of another child being stabbed.  

Fast forward from 2014 to 2021, some 7 years on knife crime statistics fail to improve and many instances result in tragic deaths.  This change wishes to make communities aware of the warning signs. Many homes in our community have been broken and will never be repaired - we must make a change now. 

The lack of awareness on a visual level is missing in our homes, schools, and our local community.  A national awareness day including a one-minute silence to show the effect of knife crime in our community, emphasizing the availability of safety mechanisms in place, while creating community cohesion is now a public health emergency. 

Losing a child to knife crime creates a stigma because many consider that the victims were involved in gang warfare, this is not the case.  A day of knowledge and visual reminder can make a difference.  Maybe a parent will become aware of the signs and a child more aware of making better choices.

2019/20 knife crime statistics via UK Parliament website report knife crime by police force area shows London recorded the highest rate of 179 offenses involving a knife per 100,000 population. In the year ending March 2019, there were 259 homicides (currently recorded) using a sharp instrument, including knives and broken bottles accounting for 39% of all homicides.

A day to remember, a day for awareness.