In honor of the victims of knife crime, a sculpture of a knife made of police-collected weapons will be placed in a town square.
To honor those who have passed away or suffered injuries as a result of attacks involving knives in Reading, a sculpture is being made.
The Reading Borough Council expressed the wish that the piece of art serve as "a symbol of peace and positivity.".
By the spring, it is expected to be put in place at the Oracle shopping center.
The town has experienced a number of knife-related fatalities, including those of 13-year-old Olly Stephens, David Allen, Raheem Hanif, Yannick Cupido, and others.
In Forbury Gardens during a terrorist attack in June 2020, friends James Furlong, Joe Ritchie-Bennett, and David Wails all passed away shortly after being stabbed by Khairi Saadallah.
According to Karen Rowland, the project aims to empower the neighborhood "to feel empowered to change the narrative around knife carrying in Reading by repurposing the weapons and knives recovered from community knife bins and police seizures into a symbol of peace and positivity through creative arts.".
The sculpture was intended to "cause each of us to pause and reflect on the devastating impact of knife crime within our communities," she added, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
The project is supported by the Reading Borough Council, Thames Valley Police, and neighborhood organizations.
