Young people explore ways to reduce knife violence during event at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Young people from across Haringey explored ways to reduce knife violence and build better relationships with the police during an event held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Met Police’s ‘Youth Innovation Hub’ saw over 30 young people take part in a series of workshops and activities to discuss ways to reduce youth-on-youth violence and consider how to make the local area safer for young people.

Over the course of the day, staff from Tottenham Hotspur Foundation were on hand to facilitate discussions and explain more about the Club’s support for young people leaving youth justice settings, including its role in driving employment opportunities in the local community through its free career advice service and signposting to live vacancies.

Our official charitable body works closely with the Met Police to refer young people to a range of activities including Premier League Kicks, a series of free football and multi-sport activities delivered locally and run by the Foundation.

Participants at the event also heard from doctors and nurses from North Middlesex Hospital, who have experience of treating victims of knife crime, about the long-term health consequences of youth violence.

Tara Tewarie, Programme Manager, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, said: “We know that youth violence continues to impact our community and it is incredibly important that young people are involved in discussions."

Dr Nnenna Osuji, Chief Executive at North Middlesex Hospital, added: “As community leaders it is essential that we work in partnership with young people to reduce the violent crime in our communities. Our teams treat far too many people who have been victims of youth-on-youth violence, including knife crime, and everyone at North Middlesex is committed to helping reduce this.

“This event was a great opportunity to share ideas and hear directly from young people about what more we can do, and it’s vital that all organisations that come into contact with children and their families use these insights to tackle the issue."

Sergeant Farhan Asghar from the Met Police said: “Strengthening community policing is at the heart of the Met Commissioner’s 100 day engagement plan. Community engagement events, like the youth innovation hub at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are crucial to truly focus and prioritise our activities and initiatives to deliver the policy that communities want.

“It was fantastic to hear directly from young people and we were privileged to hear from their lived experiences, which we hope will help to improve trust and confidence among young people. It was also important for us to give them a voice to effect changing in local policing at innovative solutions to tackle knife-crime."