Alison Cope visits Mas Lab in Kidderminster College on Wednesday to share her experience of reaching out to thousands of students from all over the UK and advise on how best to reach out to young people in the Wyre Forest area. Alison was the inspiration behind Shropshire's Knife Angel; a sculpture created at the British Ironwork Centre, made up of thousands of knives, collected during police amnesties. Alison lost her son Josh at the age of just 18 when he was murdered, and since then tours schools campaigning against knife crime and revealing through her lived experience the real dangers and potential heartbreak of carrying a weapon.
When Ironwork Centre owner Clive Knowles first considered launching the Knife Angel project, it was Alison who was first consulted; and she says, “I didn't hesitate to say yes. Anything that can be done to stop people carrying knives has to be welcomed. It is an amazing piece of art." And I think if the Mas Lab team bring it to Kidderminster as part of their anti-knife crime campaign I for one will be more than happy to speak, both at the college event and in local schools and colleges if they want me.