Knife angel: Survey launched to see whether Sheffield residents want sculpture to be brought to city
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Anne Gray’s grandson, Jamie Stuart, was just 19-years-old when he was stabbed to death on Holgate Avenue, Parson Cross, while he was walking home from a 21st birthday party in July 2011.
Anne, 78, has been campaigning for the sculpture, which bears Jamie’s name, to be brought to Sheffield since 2019.
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Hide AdThe South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit has now launched a survey to ascertain whether Sheffield residents would like the knife angel to go on display in the city, and Anne is encouraging people to fill it out, and help make her wish come true.
“People should support this, we’ve got to do everything we can to combat knife crime.
“I’d do anything to stop knife crime,” said Anne of Parson Cross.
Those taking part in the survey will be asked questions around how the knife angel makes them feel; what age group they believe it should be targeted towards and how useful they believe it would be at changing attitudes towards knife crime.
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Hide AdThe imposing sculpture, which was created by artist Alfie Bradley, and the British Ironworks Centre (BIC), is around 23 feet tall, and is comprised of more than 100,000 knives that have been surrendered during amnesties held across the country.
A message to Jamie, which reads: ‘Fly safe Jamie’ can be seen on the sculpture’s back, but the closest it has come to Sheffield is Chesterfield, where it went on display in October last year.
The purpose of the knife angel is to raise awareness about knife crime, and it has visited towns and cities across the country since November 2018.
These visits include education and awareness sessions, which are held in the hosting town or city.
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Hide AdSheffield University is listed as one of the potential future host sites on the BIC’s website, but Anne feels it should take pride of place in the city centre.
“It should be in town, in the city centre, like it has been everywhere else...it should be outside the Town Hall or the Peace Gardens – the name says it all, doesn’t it?,” she said.
The South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit is based at Shepcote Lane in Sheffield and is working across South Yorkshire to prevent and reduce violence.
The survey will run for four weeks, and to take part please visit: https://southyorkshireviolencereductionunit.com/news/sheffield-knife-angel-survey/