At the last Diocesan Synod in March Reigate Deanery proposed a motion (click here) calling for Churches to take action against knife crime. What support the Church can offer to reduce knife crime?
- Offering support to the victims and perpetrators and their families and friends.
- Supporting our schools to reduce exclusion through the roles of church youth workers and other ministers.
- Providing alternatives such as knife bins and safe places for children from the end of school until parents and guardians return home.
- Offering positive male role models, to help young men who’ve had no father figure, understand how to deal with anger.
This motion is now being taken forward to General Synod and Revd Canon Dr Rosemarie Mallett has been talking about these proposals in the national news.
We also discussed these issues at the last Deanery Synod and are working out how we can use our deanery structure to protect our young people from violence. One possible response is to raise money for a knife bin to be placed where it’s most needed. Can we open our doors to our young people? Or is there something else we can do?
We are raising these questions in our indvidual Churches and will report back and discuss further at the next Deanery Synod in October.
