Sharp knives removed from South Yorkshire children's homes in bid to boost safety
It's part of a project which also aims to change perceptions around knives
Sharp tipped knives have been removed from several children's homes in South Yorkshire, in a bid to improve safety as well as change perceptions around blades.
Local campaigner Anthony Olaseinde from Sheffield, who works as part of the organisation Always an Alternative, has been working on the pilot which has so far taken dozens of blades from 17 homes and supported living accomodation.
It comes as South Yorkshire Police have also launched their 'Rounded Knife' project, with the same aim.
Rounded edge knives remove the sharp point, but remain useful for tasks in the kitchen.
"We work with children, children's homes, semi-independent 16 to 18 year olds": Anthony said.
"We chose to work with those cohort of young people, not because they're in care and they're bad, far from that, it's just because we realise that normal kitchen knives get locked away and there's a very sort of negative mindset around knives in those homes.
"And we just wanted to teach those young people that knives are not weapons, they're not dangerous, they're tools and you should use them properly.
"So that was the reason for the project. And again, very positive and yeah, can't thank those young people that got involved enough.
"You know, they were brilliant. I got to know each and every one of them. And it's been a really, really positive project."