Ten 'KnifeSavers' kits have been distributed across Merseyside by Everton in the Community thanks to funding received from the Home Office in Liverpool and fan group County Road Bobblers.
The KnifeSavers Bleed Control Kits empower people to deal with bleeding caused by knife injuries and have been shared with the charity’s PL Kicks delivery sites across Liverpool City Region, including at Kirkby, Huyton, Whiston and Speke, as well as Litherland High School and Savio Salesian College in Sefton.
Key delivery staff at each of these 10 venues have also received online training with the KnifeSavers team to educate them on how to use the kits effectively to save a life.
PL Kicks gives young people access to free football sessions, sports sessions and workshops, providing them with opportunities, support and pathways to achieve their full potential. Aimed at eight to 18-year-olds, Kicks engages young people in positive activities through their passion for football, while also addressing topics covering everything from equality and inclusion to youth violence and knife crime.
Lara King, Senior Programme Manager at Everton in the Community, said: “We are very appreciative to the Home Office and the County Road Bobblers for their donations, which will help provide our delivery sites across Merseyside with the tools they need to help save a life after a knife injury.
“We work all year round to raise awareness to young people about knife crime and, equipped with these Bleeding Control Kits, staff and young people can be empowered to save the lives of those affected by knife crime and make a positive difference to communities.”
As part of their ongoing commitment to protect vulnerable people and communities, the Home Office in Liverpool provided funding for eight KnifeSavers kits and a further two kits were funded by the County Road Bobblers, the supporter group behind the fan-funded anti-racism banner that was unveiled at Goodison Park during the 2019/20 season in support of Everton’s new signing Moise Kean.
Gabi Monk, senior civil servant within the Directors Office of Liverpool Visa and Citizenship department at the Home Office in Liverpool, said: “As a local employer it is very important that we work with the community and when my colleague Trevor Hawitt-Lawton approached me with the idea, I saw it as an opportunity to provide meaningful support to people across the city.”
County Road Bobblers supporters group added: “We started the campaign to raise funds after seeing so many lives lost much to soon as a result of knife crime. We had initially looked at a banner to raise awareness but with the change in fan attendance at football games post-COVID it was clear a change in direction was needed.
"We received guidance from Laura Hughes, who runs ‘In memory of Colin McGinty’, who signposted KnifeSavers to us, and Trevor from the Bobblers approached the Home Office and helped secure further funding. Yet again it is a clear demonstration of the positive work that can be done by fans coming together to work with the Club and charity and a big thank you also goes to the Home Office for their funding.”
KnifeSavers is a not-for-profit programme that was founded by trauma doctors at the Major Trauma Centre at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, in conjunction with victims of knife trauma and their families. Thirty Everton in the Community staff have also received full training on how to use the Bleed Control Kits to treat the traumatic injuries sustained following a knife wound.
