Knife surrender van returns to West Midlands as over 15,000 weapons removed from Britain's streets
The amnesty van will be travelling around the region this month
People across the West Midlands are being urged to safely hand in unwanted knives and weapons as a specialist surrender van returns to the region this month.
The mobile surrender van, operated by anti-knife crime charity FazAmnesty and led by its CEO, Faron Paul, will visit a series of locations across the West Midlands, providing a trusted, anonymous and 'no questions asked' route for people to surrender dangerous weapons.
The visit comes as more than 15,000 knives and offensive weapons have been removed from Britain's streets through Home Office-funded surrender activity, including the surrender van and amnesty bins, since last year.
Blades like those surrendered have been used in violent crimes and caused devastation to communities across the country.
Policing and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said: "Knife crime is down by 11 per cent since the General Election but we will not stop until we meet our commitment of halving knife crime in a decade.”
After visiting locations across the West Midlands in August, the FazAmnesty van will travel to London.
The weapons, which must be wrapped and sealed in a box or bag will be disposed of safely and securely.
Mr Paul survived a knife attack in which he was stabbed 18 times. He has since dedicated his life to preventing violence and helping communities safely remove dangerous weapons from circulation.
He said: "We are proud to continue supporting the Home Office's National Surrender Scheme and to play our part in removing dangerous weapons from our streets.
"Every weapon surrendered is one less weapon that could be used to seriously harm or take a life.
"The introduction of our mobile surrender van has given direct surrender opportunities into some of the hardest-to-reach communities.
"By engaging with residents, we are helping to remove barriers that might otherwise prevent someone from surrendering a knife."
The surrender activity also builds on the wider action being delivered through Ronan's Law, named after 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, who was killed in 2022 with a ninja sword bought online.
Following campaigning by his mother, Pooja Kanda, the Government introduced tougher measures to restrict access to dangerous weapons and close loopholes in online sales.
Ms Kanda said: "Every knife handed into a surrender bin is one less weapon that could end a life or devastate a family like mine.
"I lost my 16-year-old son, Ronan, in a mistaken identity knife attack. He paid the ultimate price because someone else chose to carry a knife. There are no winners in knife crime.
"The removal of more than 15,000 knives from our communities is a significant achievement and demonstrates what can be accomplished when government, charities, police and communities work together.
"As we mark one year since the introduction of Ronan's Law, this surrender scheme is another important step in preventing dangerous weapons from causing further harm.
"It provides young people, and anyone else carrying a dangerous weapon, with a safe and anonymous opportunity to surrender it."
According to the Home Office, since June 2024, overall knife crime has fallen by 11 per cent, knife-related homicides have fallen by 26 per cent, and more than 63,000 knives have been removed from Britain’s streets.
The Government said it continues to push forward with its mission to halve knife crime in the next decade.
People can find the locations of the surrender bins and the mobile surrender van on GOV.UK.