New campaign to bring Knife Angel to Bristol after spate of stabbings

A new campaign has been launched to bring the Knife Angel to Bristol after a spate of stabbing incidents in the city. 

Anti-knife campaigner Leanne Reynonds is hoping to raise up to £5,000 to bring the 27-foot statue to the city for the first time. 

She is urging people to write to their local councillors and MPs to support the campaign. 

This is after numerous stabbings in the city, including the death of teenage boys Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, in Knowle West, and 16-year-old Darrian Williams in Easton.    

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Reynolds told BristolWorld: “I want to host the Knife Angel in Bristol and we’re going to raise this money as a community.     

“It’s a form of education, it comes with 50 knife bins that we can put out in the community for free.  

“I don’t want it here to stand over the city. I’m doing it for education purposes and I also want to educate young people around knife crime.”  

The giant sculpture is made from over 100,000 knives in tribute to victims of knife crime.   

It has been touring the country since 2018 in an effort to encourage people to stop carrying knives on the streets - but is yet to come to Bristol. 

Reynolds said she needs the police, council and families of deceased children’s support to bring the statue here for a month.   

“It’s got to be really thought out, it’s not coming for fun; it’s a really serious thing,” she said.      

“I have to work in partnership with people and get the schools in those 30 days to visit it and try and do something around knife crime in schools.”   

Reynolds’ campaign work to date has included installing knife surrender bins and around 150 bleed kits in the city.       

“If I want something, I put my whole heart into it and I try my best to get it, and the results are showing,” she added.

“It’s really hard but if we sit down and do nothing, we’re going to have more deaths on our streets".   

Reynolds has written a template letter people can send to their local councillors and MPs to support bringing the Knife Angel to Bristol.

She can be contacted through her Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/318821732975699/