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

I am Collet Hunter, CEO of the James Ross Hunter Foundation.

#JamesLaw — 'Lobbying for Wellbeing and Safety' knowledge, precaution and support, to be added to mandatory questions and answers in the 'Life in the UK Test' for immigrants to the UK. With help from the Home Office, this will help to raise awareness among parents who arrived in this country without knowledge of what 'Grooming', 'County Lines' and 'Knife Crime Prevention' look like.

London hosts a wide diversity of cultures, and clarifying and understanding the consequences of carrying knives and knowing where to get support when concerns are raised is vital to both public health and individual safety.

The year was 2009, and what I know now is truly an awakening to what exists today. I have lost count of the lives taken before and to date, and the hearts and homes that still carry open wounds of grief for precious loved ones.

For the record, knife crime is not normalised and never will be in the eyes of victims.

I am passionate about this change because I 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 national awareness and a one-minute silence will:

Act to inform young people and those involved in knife crime, to stop and think about their actions and about how and where to seek help.
Teach parents the warning signs of their child's involvement in knife crime, and share information and encourage the use of support networks.
Inform future generations about the dangers of knife crime and its 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, James's life was senselessly taken while attempting to save another young man from a gang attack in the vicinity of Sydenham, painfully only minutes from our home. The terrifying memories of walking to the location after receiving the call about the incident remain terrifying to this very day. I recall that only weeks before the tragic incident, we had spoken at home about the lack of visual awareness of knife crime, following another child being stabbed.

Fast forward from 2014 to 2021, some seven years on, knife crime statistics had failed to improve, and many instances resulted in tragic deaths. This change seeks 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 visual awareness is missing in our homes, schools and local communities. A national awareness day, including a one-minute silence to show the effect of knife crime in our community, emphasising 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, as many assume the victim was involved in gang warfare — this is not the case. A day of knowledge and visual remembrance can make a difference. Perhaps a parent will become aware of the signs, and a child will become more aware of making better choices.

Update: The latest Home Office and ONS data (year ending December 2025) shows knife-enabled offences have fallen by 10% year-on-year, with knife-related homicides down 21% — the lowest annual total on record. However, the picture isn't uniform: 15 of 44 police forces recorded increases, and knife crime remains heavily concentrated in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

A day to remember, a day for awareness.