Walk for Peace calls for reduction in crime in Sheffield suburb

Dubbed as a Walk for Peace, the residents of Sharrow called for more involvement from the authorities to safeguard the community and urged everyone to be united in combating crime.

One Nation Community Programme Director Wajib Nazir said it was time that politics took the backseat and suggested they focus more on protecting the community regardless of their ideologies.

He said: “We have had a stakeholders’ group in the past but then they got a bit too much into politics and I ended up leaving the group.

“But I hope we all can come together and change for the better. We need to come together as one, not as Liberal-Democrats, The Greens or The Labour.”

Mums United chair, Sahira Irshad said the walk was a symbol of peace and hope as they all came together irrespective of colour, religion, ethnicity, and sexuality.

As a mother, she said she was worried about the increasing number in crimes as it put the safety of the children at stake.

She said: “I’m tired of being scared, not for me, but for them. What does their future hold? We worry naturally about our children, from cradle to the grave.

“I am angry I feel scared for them that we have people who have taken the young and groomed them to be hostile and dangerous individuals.”

Ceri Robertson, also from Mums United said: “Sharrow is a place of multicultural unity and we unite for peace. Help us to care for each and help us to make our community safer.”

A resident, Sus Skyes, who has been living in Sharrow for more than 30 years said it was lovely to see the walk had attracted people across faiths and ideology.

Although he just had undergone major surgery for his knee three weeks ago, he said it didn’t stop him from joining a good cause.

He said: “This is the furthest I have walked, but it’s been great.”

Meanwhile, 7-year-old Amos Harvey who hand-made a poster that said ‘Say no to fighting’ said: “My family wanted to come so I thought why not, it sounds great and I want to come as well.”

The walk began at Old Sharrow Junior School and ended at the Common Ground Abbeydale Ltd Within St Peters Community Hall.

The show of solidarity came in the wake of a councillor’s home was blasted with a shotgun as part a spate of violence in the suburb over Easter, including three stabbings and criminal damage to a house.

On Thursday, April 18, a 34-year-old man was stabbed in his head in South View Road, Sharrow and on Monday, April 22, two men - aged 18 and 26 - were stabbed on Abbeydale Road.

The walk also saw the participation of other associations such as Family Voice and Street Safe for All.