Charity asks communities in the North West to break wall of silence over violence

In the midst of a pandemic, there has never been a greater need to protect communities in the North West and our National Health Service from harm. The charity Crimestoppers has this week launched a new campaign with a stark warning that silence won’t stop violence, urging people to speak up anonymously to help save lives.

Crimestoppers highlights a 93% rise in UK hospital admissions for knife attacks on under-16s since 2012.* They also reveal that information the charity has received over the past four years about knife crime has rocketed threefold (340%), whilst firearms info has risen over the same period by a third (33%).

Whilst the health statistics are concerning, the charity notes that over half of all violent incidents are not reported to the police, which prevents them from dealing with the issue.

The ‘Silence Won’t Stop Violence’ campaign aims to break the wall of silence and help reset the status quo on violent crime. Crimestoppers’ response is to raise awareness of the impact of violence and offer individuals in communities a way to speak up about incidents, before or after they take place, 100% anonymously.

Crimestoppers is working with a number of violence reduction units across the UK to support a public health approach to tackling violence, including promoting its youth service Fearless.org.

Gary Murray, North West Regional Manager at the charity Crimestoppers, said:

“Violence in all its forms, has a significant impact on communities in the North West and across the UK; from victims of domestic abuse, to young people carrying knives, its ripple effect can fuel the fear of crime, tear apart families, and overstretch our health service who have to deal with the resulting physical and emotional trauma.

“A public health approach recognises that violence is a preventable problem requiring a society-wide response. We’re supporting this through early intervention and education to help prevent violence happening in the first place. We recognise that you may be close to crime, but may also want to do the right thing and bring violence in your community to an end. If you know who may be carrying weapons or threatening or harming others, you can tell us 100% anonymously.”

The three-week campaign will highlight Crimestoppers youth service Fearless.org, which exists to give young people access to non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. Using the same anonymous guarantee as Crimestoppers, the Fearless.org service provides young people with a safe online place to give information to us about crime - 100% anonymously.

To find out more about the Silence Won’t Stop Violence campaign, visit the campaign page. If you have information about violent crime, including knife crime, call freephone 0800 111 555 or fill in our anonymous online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org to tell us what you know 100% anonymously.

Please note: Computer IP addresses are never traced and no-one will ever know you contacted us. For telephone calls, we have no caller line display, no 1471 facility and have never traced a call.

• *Figures released by Channel 4’s Dispatches in March 2019 revealed there had been a 93% rise in hospital admissions for knife attacks on under-16s since 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/04/no-link-between-knife-and-police-cuts-says-theresa-may

• Crimestoppers is an independent charity helping communities to ‘Speak up. Stay safe.’
• Our 0800 555 111 telephone number and website crimestoppers-uk.org gives people the power to speak up and pass on information about crime 100% anonymously. In over 32 years, we have always kept this promise.
• Alongside our national campaigns, we have hundreds of volunteers across the UK who help us promote our services to those that need to hear about them.
• Every region of the UK has a Crimestoppers team responsible for raising awareness of our charity and running local campaigns about issues that affect their area.
• Around 10 people are arrested and charged every day as a result of information given to Crimestoppers.
• Since Crimestoppers began in 1988, it has received over 2.2 million actionable calls, resulting in more than 151,000 arrests and charges, over £139 million worth of stolen goods have been recovered and over £367 million worth of illegal drugs have been seized.
• In 2005, Crimestoppers launched the UK's Most Wanted on its website which allows the public to view images of criminals and pass on vital information about their whereabouts. It has been highly successful, with over 4,300 arrests to date.