Stand against Knife Crime 2011 (Liber8 Lanarkshire)

On Saturday 15^th October at the Power League in Hamilton, Liber8 Lanarkshire’s StreetBase Programme organised and hosted an event in partnership with Street League, South Lanarkshire Councils, Community Safety Partnership, Strathclyde Police, Power League, Hamilton amongst others to host an event named as “Stand Against Knife Crime 2011”.

Over 80 young people from all over South Lanarkshire who had been engaged through Liber8s StreetBase Programme, having signed up to an Individual declaration of standing against Knife Crime, came together to compete for the “Stand against Knife Crime” 2011 Trophy. Each young person taking part received a participation medal from Chief Inspector David Walker from Strathclyde Police.

Chief Inspector David Walker stated the importance of being aware of the dangers of involvement and reiterated the tragic circumstances of weapons and their use. He congratulated all taking part and for coming together in such a worthwhile cause.

Head of Services for Liber8 Lanarkshire Tam Penman stated that, at a time where the topic of weapons and their use have had a dramatic impact in the communities and lives of families who have lost someone close, he stated that there are young people here today, taking part in this event who have lost family members and friends, together they have come to take part in an event to raise awareness of such behaviours and to take an active stance individually against it. Although the minimising of harm from alcohol and substance is one of our key aims , the reality that when putting together the two issues, tragic consequences can often follow.

With 12 teams competing for the Trophy from Rigside to Rutherglen, Hillhouse “Hubba” came out on top with the “Drummy” Drumsiguard coming in a close second.

Liber8 Lanarkshire would like to thank Street League in particular for the support but the most important aspect was the close partnerships coming together with Liber8 Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire Councils Community Safety Partnership, Street League, Strathclyde Police and Power League Hamilton along with many young people from South Lanarkshire to share a joint message against the carrying of weapons.