Murder victim's mum to re-live nightmare at event in Sheffield to highlight dangers of knife crime

A local knife crime charity is bringing its biggest awareness event yet to Sheffield next week in order to show the impact of violent crime in a new way.

Alway An Alternative (AAA) works to educate and reduce knife crime in Sheffield through school visits, knife bins and more. Next week's two day event at the Showroom Cinema on Paternoster Row will provide a unique insight into knife crime in South Yorkshire.

Anthony Olaseinde, AAA founder and prominent local campaigner, said: "Rather than looking at knife crime from the outside-in, we're looking at it from inside-out.

"People should come down and get a better understanding of knife crime. They will see that they are not that far away from it."

Starting on February 27, Knife Crime: The Epidemic? will open with Why Me? a short movie produced by 12 young people from Sheffield. It will show how knife crime can affect absolutely anyone, how carrying a knife does not protect you and leaves you vulnerable to causing pain and heartbreak.

The continuation of AAAs Victims Voices series will follow and a Q&A with Victoria Jackson on the importance of youth work in combating knife crime.

Day two will open with four more installments of Victims Voices - including one featuring the family and friends of Ryan Theobald who was murdered along with Janis Kozlovski in Doncaster city centre in 2022.

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Ryan's mum, Lisa Theobald, will also take centre stage to discuss the loss of her son and answer questions from the audience.

"The physical damage of knife crime will go away," Anthony said, "but the mental will never get fixed. Every angle of to knife crime you can think of we have had here."

People must register online to attend the event, which will run from 9.30am to 1pm on both days.

Anthony and Always An Alternative have been at the forefront of knife crime action in Sheffield and South Yorkshire for a number of years. The charity operates knife bins in several locations across the region, where knives can be disposed of safely and securely, before being collected by Anthony and his team.