A CHARITY running event is taking place in Leicester to raise funds for devices, which could save the lives of people in the community, which would otherwise be lost to knife crime.
The half-marathon ‘community relay’ is set to take place around the streets of Leicester on Saturday, March 5, starting from the city’s African Caribbean Centre.
Money raised as a result of 13-mile event, will be used to purchase two bleed control kit cabinets, which will be installed in the community, at a cost of around £500 each.
The life-saving devices, which are designed to deal with major injuries and wounds, will be put in areas of Leicester such as the Highfields and city centre, where knife crime is on the rise.
The initiative is the brainchild of Kamala Wisdom, a Leicester resident who is concerned about the rise of knife crime and youth violence in the city.
“Knife crime like Covid -19 is an indiscriminate killer. In fact, knife crime is a bigger killer of under-25s than COVID-19,” she said.
“The most recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that in the 12 months up to March last year, 84 under-25s died from being stabbed with a knife. Knife crime has continued to affect our society, robbing us of too many young, talented, and precious young people. whenever there is another stabbing it is a sobering reminder that this epidemic continues to spread like wild fire.
“Young people need to wake up to the fact that knife crime is not okay, it’s not normal,” she added.
“It’s become so normalised, so knife crime awareness will help to denormalise knife crime culture amongst young people. Ultimately that’s the reason why it’s so important to install these potentially life-saving kits.”
Kamala, who runs a youth and community development called ‘Sensational Vibes’, hopes that the fundraiser will help to make life safer in Leicester, whilst also helping to bring the community together.
On the day, 26 people will run half a mile each before passing on the baton to make up the 13 mile total.
So far a total of 24 people have signed up, and a total of £1,200 is the required to buy the two cabinets.
“We’ll be taking off from the African Carribean Centre which has a great community spirit anyway, so the community will be here as we usually are on a Saturday afternoon anyway,” Kamala said.
“It’s going to be 13 miles around Leicester, so it’s going to be really interesting and it’s going to be really fun,” she added.
“It will be a great achievement and success at the end of it and I’m looking Forward to that last person coming through the centre doors.”
To find out more about the event, contact Kamala at: sensationalvibes@outlook.com
Louise Steel
