Campaigners warn knife crime is a 'public health issue' in the East Midlands
Marcellus Baz is calling for a 'co-ordinated approach'
An anti-knife crime campaigner in Nottingham says the issue is becoming a 'public health emergency' in the East Midlands.
Marcellus Baz says parents alone cannot tackle the problem.
Marcellus founded the charity 'Switch Up' and the Nottingham School of Boxing. Both use sport and mentoring to help young people, with a particular focus on tackling knife crime.
He told us: "The cost-of-living crisis is putting a lot of pressure on parents at the moment. When we see stabbings take place, it is hard to just point the finger at the parents.
"Schools need to do their bit to help break down issues that are affecting young people. Just because it happens outside school, does not mean that is not brought into school as well," he said.
'It takes a whole village to raise a child'
Marcellus told us where he'd like to see change: "I have never seen trust in institution be at an all time low like this. We need to rebuild that.
"At the end of the day, it takes a whole village to raise a child and if that child does not feel warmth, it burns the village down.
"We have to look at early intervention and treat this as a public health issue. We cannot keep losing our children," he said.
What are the Government doing?
The Government’s Safer Streets Mission is to halve knife crime in a decade. This year, they are focusing on the online sale of knives.
The Government said they would invest £1.75 million in funding to bring in a new national police coordination unit to tackle the online sale of weapons.
They are also introducing more support for young offenders, by giving a mandatory targeted plan to children caught carrying knives, to prevent them reoffending.
'Toxic cycle of reoffending'
Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy said:
"Every life lost to knife crime is an unmitigated tragedy. With early targeted action, we can put children on the right path to a positive future and stop them falling into a toxic cycle of reoffending.
"Our reforms will give local services the security they need to help more young people and make our streets safer for everyone."