Huddersfield church's knock out plan to tackle knife crime

The Salvation Army in Huddersfield is supporting a youth project that raises awareness of the dangers of knife crime as figures show the number of children carrying knives is on the rise across West Yorkshire. 

The ‘Fists over Knives’ project for children as young as five helps raise awareness as part of youth club sessions that also focus on exercise and non-contact boxing. 

The eight-week course is funded by The Salvation Army and run by Mark Reynolds, affectionately known as Baldy, at the RABC Boxing Gym in Milnsbridge, Huddersfield. The youngsters attending are from a youth group run by Katie Thompson, who owns community café Katie’s Homemade Kitchen in Marsden. 

Majors Ade and Chris Lee, who lead Huddersfield Salvation Army, attend every session to support the youngsters, most of whom are aged between seven and 11, with some four and five year olds attending with their parents. 

Major Chris said: “This is about getting the message across about the dangers of carrying knives. They are already at the age where kids are messing about with knives, which is really scary. 

“We can see that these sessions are making a difference to kids’ lives. But it’s not just about knife crime, they are using the gym equipment, they are boxing, they do all sorts. We are here every week helping out, encouraging the kids and making sure they are safe. 

“We were really keen to support Katie and the youth group she runs as she does an amazing job, then we found out we’d been left some money from a community fund to help young people in Marsden so this fitted really well. Many of the kids are from deprived backgrounds. 

“We hope people come to church through all sorts of avenues, but it’s also trying to model values and building connections with families. It’s about The Salvation Army working with the community to make people’s lives better.” 
 

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that knife-enabled crime has risen by four per cent, with 55,008 offences recorded in the year ending September 2024. More than 3,000 knife crime offences were committed by 10 to 17-year-olds. In West Yorkshire, 14.3 per cent of knife and offensive weapon offenders were 10 to 17 years old.

For Baldy, who delivers outreach programmes on knife crime awareness at schools as well as at the gym he runs, it is personal as he has seen lives ruined by the crime. 

He said: “Six people in my life have had lives ruined through this, three who were stabbed and killed and three who were perpetrators. I’ve seen parents, siblings, aunts, grandparents distraught because their young people are dead or are doing life in prison. It affects us all as a community.” 

The sessions are fun and interactive with the children having a warm-up on gym equipment and trying out new activities, followed by some non-contact boxing training with messages about healthy eating, lifestyle, making sure they get enough sleep, as well as the importance of not getting in with the wrong crowd or getting involved with knives.

Baldy continued: “We choose the avenue of boxing to get these messages across. With boxing you do your session, but you listen to the coaches as well. It does go in, even some of the mums and dads are taking on these messages. You can see it in the way a four-year-old will repeat back to me the importance of not carrying knives, it is sinking in.

“Physically boxing is one of the hardest sports, the physical part helps you maintain a healthy weight, helps with agility, mobility and it gets rid of so much frustration. Mentally it gives you that release and helps youngsters combat the pressures they are under day to day.” 

One parent, who has three children aged four, eight and 10 attending, said: “They love it, you don’t normally get stuff like that for kids, so it’s brilliant. It’s definitely helped with their confidence. My girl has really come out of her shell since she’s been here. It’s not just about training, it’s all the things they say to them and talking about ‘fists over knives’, it’s good to start talking about this early.” 

One participant, 17, said; “I enjoy it, it’s nice being with my friends and I like boxing. It’s made me be more aware of being safe and not getting in with the wrong crowds.”

Katie, who brings members of her youth group to the sessions, said: “It’s thanks to The Salvation Army we’re able to bring them to things like this. You can see how engaged these kids are, they love it, and it’s important to talk about knife crime. If it stops one of them getting hurt or hurting someone else it’s worth it.”