HOME Secretary Alan Johnson has paid a visit to Sheffield to show his support for action to combat gang, gun and knife crime.
Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, current MP for Sheffield Brightside, was on hand to welcome his successor and give him a tour of Pitsmoor and Burngreave, where a lot of work is being done within the community.
"I am very pleased to have been able to join Alan on his visit to the north of the city," said Mr Blunkett.
"Not least to learn about both the challenge and the positive action being taken by the police, local agencies and, above all, local people, working together to combat gangs, gun and knife crime and the underlying scourge of illegal drugs."
The Home Secretary and Mr Blunkett met with the police and local partners responsible for tackling serious youth violence in Sheffield.
They also met with a local group of parents to hear about the measures being taken by them to curb violent youth crime and the projects they've initiated to help future generations.
A representative of the parents' group said: "We've lost brothers and sons and we don't want it to happen anymore. We want to show our kids that we're here for them, to support them and listen and to provide them with things to do."
Mr Johnson called efforts by them and police 'inspirational' - and suggested it could be a blueprint for other communities with the same problems.
He said: "It's been wonderful to see a really good example of a community working with the police and achieving success.
Log onto
www.thestar.co.uk/ video for footage of the Home Secretary's visit.
Buy The Star - Monday to Saturday - for local news, sport, features and ads. To subscribe CLICK HEREREAD MOREMain news indexYour lettersFeaturesSouth Yorkshire's environmental newsKids ZoneMore business newsMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsLatest sport