The Knife Angel arrives in Luton
The sculpture is made of over 100,000 blades to highlight the impact of knife violence
The Knife Angel has arrived in Luton.
The 27-foot national monument against violence and aggression will be unveiled in a special ceremony at midday on St George's Square.
Safety partners from across the county are expected to join the ceremony, highlighting unity against violent crime, in support for those who lost their lives.
Roseann Taylor is one of the campaigners welcoming the statue and the powerful message it carries, after losing her son Azaan (AJ) Kaleem to knife crime in 2018.
She is now a Schools Navigator, and continues to educate younger generations around the dangers of carrying and using these weapons.
She said: "I think the message that I'd like to get carried across from this incredible statue is that every single knife that the statue is made of is a knife that has been surrendered by somebody in the community."
"What we can assure of those tens of thousands of knives that make the statue is the knife that will no longer be able to harm anybody, so for me, that's the positive I take from the Knife Angel."
The statue stands tall at 27 feet, weighing 3.5 tonnes, and was installed yesterday ready for its unveiling today.
It highlights with it the scale of knife violence, while for Roseann, it can show the positive steps taken to clamp down on crime with the seizing of weapons, and the efforts made to educate people to surrender knives to amnesty bins.
She said: "It's really important for me that the Knife Angel has come to Luton for me on the personal note, it shows that Azaan is not just a number or another victim, that actually there is stuff happening across the country that is highlighting knife crime."
"It really is a force to be reckoned with, and I'm sure that the impact on anybody that comes to visit the statue, it will show the gravity of knife crime."
Bedfordshire Police will be joining the event, reiterating the message of their 'Just Drop It' campaign.
Roseann Taylor, who features in the video, is hoping to encourage the community to work together against knife violence.
She said: "What can be done to avoid further knife crime and violence is that families communicate more with each other."
"We as a Community can actually take responsibility for what's going on within our community. Don't be that bystander that turns a blind eye, and really communicate with our children, listen to what they're saying to us."
"If there's any young people out there, please don't carry knives. The chances are that you could have that knife taken off you and used against you or worse still, that you could use that and kill somebody, and in turn lose your life to a a prison sentence."
The statue's powerful message will resonate throughout Luton and across Bedfordshire, before it moves on to its next host town.