As knife crime rates across London worsen, a change of approach is desperately needed. Andrew Pritchard, Executive Founder of the AP Foundation, discusses how the new ‘Who’s Next?’ campaign coalition will deliver this.
Knife crime has cast a long, dark shadow over London, a city that should be a haven for its youth. Instead, it has become a battleground where too many young lives are lost or destroyed. According to the Metropolitan Police, there were over 15,000 knife crime offences in London in 2023, a significant increase from the previous year.
The rate of senseless violence continues to rise, so it's time for us to fully understand its root causes, and to join forces to tackle the problem from all angles. While the media continue to print the same headlines on repeat, our coalition is calling for change.
Knife crime’s devastating impact
In London’s most affected boroughs, such as Croydon, Southwark, Lambeth, Newham, and Hackney, postcode gangs have entrenched themselves deeply within the community. In these areas, knife crime isn’t just an issue, it’s a daily reality. These gangs, often defined by nothing more than a few streets or a housing estate, are drawing young people into their ranks at an alarming rate.
Gang leaders strategically target vulnerable youth – those from broken homes, struggling in school, and/or those living in poverty. These young people are groomed with promises of protection, money, and a sense of belonging. Once they are in, it’s incredibly hard for them to get out, and they are on a fast track to violence, crime, and even, death. This isn’t just a fringe issue, it’s a pervasive problem that is spreading across our city, pulling more and more young lives – from both poorer and more affluent neighbourhoods – into its grip.
The impact of knife crime is far-reaching. Survivors suffer lifelong trauma, and families who have lost loved ones are left with unimaginable grief. The perpetrators, often vulnerable youth groomed by gang leaders, face life sentences. The wider community is left with fear and anxiety, leading to a breakdown in trust and community cohesion which further exacerbates the problem.
Community-driven solutions
The AP Foundation’s ‘Who’s Next?’ campaign will seek to change how we tackle London’s youth knife crime. For the first time, it will bring together all frontline stakeholders – people impacted both personally and professionally by it – to devise a series of community-driven solutions centred around education, opportunity, cooperation and support. From addressing the forces that drive our young people into this deadly lifestyle, to empowering communities to effectively respond, the ‘Who’s Next?’ campaign is a participatory initiative that asks the key questions concerning us all: “who’s next to be stabbed or killed?”, and equally, “who’s next to make a positive change?", by receiving that life-changing opportunity.
Our journey so far...
On May 1, 2024, ‘May Day’, I decided to call upon a group of friends who were equally distressed about the worsening outlook for our youth: from DJs and actors, to ex-offenders and criminal lawyers. This diverse group of individuals came together at the AP Foundation Hub in Hackney, London, to form a core campaign alliance. This gathering began a new chapter in our collective effort to end the relentless cycle of violence.
The first major step in our journey has been to listen and learn from one another. We are expanding our alliance and engaging with those who are most affected by knife crime: victims, ex-gang members, families, educators, youth workers, criminology academics, police gang units, and members of the criminal justice system. Their stories, insights, and experiences will form the foundation of a comprehensive research piece that will do more than just present statistics and add to the exhaustive range of academic literature.
It will tell the real story of knife crime in London and offer insight-based solutions that can be implemented at the community level. This research will serve as a critical tool for our campaign, providing clear directions for community leaders, educators, police, local councils and the government. By drawing on the lived experiences of those on the front lines, we can shift the narrative from one of despair, to one of hope and action. To better understand how this future should look, in late October, the AP Foundation called upon many of our London-based partners to discuss it.
Over the next 12-18 months, we plan to implement our partners’ recommended series of solutions and initiatives via a London-based, cooperative pilot, that will not only address the immediate issues, but also lay the foundations for long-term, sustainable change.
Looking ahead: cooperation is key
To create real change, we need to work together and put words into action. That’s why we have been working tirelessly to establish strategic partnerships across various sectors, from legal and criminal justice to education and community outreach, to devise and implement solutions. These partnerships are crucial to our campaign, providing us with the expertise, resources, and reach necessary to succeed.
On the frontline, organisations like the AP Foundation CIO, Faz Amnesty CIC, DBA Project, One Chance, Youth Unity, NYCC, and Factory East Community Project, are working directly with young people and communities to provide the support and opportunities they need to choose a path away from violence.
Together, we will ramp up efforts to educate and empower the next generation. For example, with training in conflict resolution and street-smart skills, as well as anti-knife and gang awareness talks in schools and colleges – ensuring that young people better understand the dangers and consequences of damaging actions and the benefits of productive ones.
The TRO Agency, Urban Arts Entertainment, and Fabio D’Andrea are amplifying our message and efforts to the public, through experiential marketing and visual media assets. We will produce a powerful anti-knife crime short film and offer VR experiences, which will be displayed in schools and cinemas across London.
To help us better understand the current challenges across the criminal justice sector and how we can integrate their experts’ unique experiences and insights into the campaign, our partner insights from MK Law and Fighting Knife Crime London remain crucial. We are also working with police gang units to understand their daily interactions and how they can better serve and engage with their local communities.
Within the next two years, we aim to launch an annual music, culture, and arts festival to celebrate the vibrant diversity of our city and serve as a powerful counter-narrative to the violence that has plagued us for too long.
This is more than just a plan: it’s a movement. And we need everyone – youths, families, educators, community leaders, frontline workers, emergency services, and the wider UK public – to join us.
Together, we are forming a comprehensive, cross-industry plan to make a real impact.
It’s time for change
We intend to present our proposals to local authorities and central government personnel tasked with combating knife crime across London. The ongoing efforts and future goals of the government’s recently formed coalition to tackle knife crime will not be realised without frontline, local community-driven initiatives like ours focused on delivering realistic solutions.
We will soon outline our detailed plan to deliver them via a comprehensive, community-driven pilot based in a London borough, designed to tackle the root causes of knife crime and to provide young people, and their families, with the guidance, support and opportunities they need to choose a productive path.
The time to act is now, and through the ‘Who’s Next?’ campaign, alongside our dedicated partner network, we are committed to leading the charge against knife crime. The devastation wrought by knife violence in our communities demands immediate and decisive action. Its root causes and impact will not simply fade away – and neither will we –so please join us with your support.
Andrew Pritchard
Executive Founder of AP Foundation
www.apfoundation.org.uk
