James Duddridge, Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, has
praised the work of the Only Cowards Carry Weapons Awareness group whilst
visiting their stall during the Community Partnership Day on 1 st June across
Southend Town Centre.
During the visit James was shown a vast array of items that were being displayed in
order to educate young people about the potential repercussions that could be
suffered if they carry a knife as a weapon. This included, the limited food and
toiletries that you are given in prison, visual aids representing the amount of blood
lost when a person is stabbed, and the damage done to internal organs.
As part of their drugs and alcohol awareness campaigns the group also had a
number of special goggles designed to impair the senses as certain substances
would, which James was able to try.
James said:
“I am grateful for the work that Only Cowards Carry do. Thanks to organisations such
as them working with our police force, young people are more enlightened about the
potential consequences of carrying a knife or abusing substances. As such, they
play a vital part in making our community safer.
When tackling knife crime we need to ensure that our approach is not solely focused
on law enforcement, very important as that is, but depends also on partnerships
across a number of sectors. In particular, it needs the support of communities
thinking about what they can themselves do to help prevent violent crime happening
in the first place and how they can support measures to get young people and young
adults involved in positive activities.”
Only Cowards Carry Weapons Awareness was founded in 2012 by Caroline Shearer
in memory of her 17 year old son Jay Whiston, who was fatally stabbed. The main
aims of the group is to raise weapons awareness amongst young people, and has
now branched out into other subject matters including drugs, bullying and gang
culture.