More knife amnesty bins, stricter rules for purchasing knives and therapy for offenders are among the many ideas generated by young people to reduce knife violence in Cleveland.
More than two dozen young people took part in half-day engagement events led by Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matt Storey during February and March this year.
The young people, who are not in mainstream education, were asked who they would prefer to report incidents to – the police, a trusted person or not at all.
They were then set the task of developing their own solutions to reducing knife crime in Cleveland’s communities. Local doodle artist Chris Layfield from Open Door Art brought their suggestions to life through drawings.
PCC Matt Storey said: “Once again, I have been impressed with the innovation and professionalism with which the young people took on the task of reducing knife crime.
“Despite their young age, they already know how much violent crime is affecting their communities and took their responsibility to develop solutions very seriously.
“My priority now is ensuring those with the ability to commission services and develop anti-violence solutions, including my own organisation, hear their voices loud and clear.”
This work was supported by over 100 students from Bede College in Billingham, who worked independently as part of their studies to develop presentations on knife crime solutions.
The top five presentations were presented to the PCC and other senior leaders, who had the tough job of selecting a winning solution. This final idea, a public health approach to serious violence, was presented by a young person at the Youth Safety Summit in March 2026.
Matt said: “Treating serious violence as a public health crisis is a relatively new and complex idea, so it’s brilliant that young people were able to identify this as the way forward.
“It was very brave for a young person to present their views to a room full of professionals at the Youth Safety Summit, but that’s exactly where our young people should be – at the front of the room telling us adults what they need.”
The feedback from the young people has been captured in a report, that will be shared with organisations involved in the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV) partnership.
This partnership, which includes organisations like the police, fire brigade, ambulance service, youth offending services and educational representatives, develops system-wide solutions to reducing Cleveland’s high levels of violent crime.
Local picture on violence
Between January and December 2025, there were 22,754 violence against the person offences recorded in Cleveland. Despite a drop of 2 per cent on the previous year, this is the second highest rate of violence in the country.
Head of CURV John Holden said: “Reducing violence is not a quick fix. To tackle entrenched, generational trends we need long-term, sustained interventions across the entire system.
“When we work as a partnership to develop these projects, it’s so important that we include the suggestions made by young people. They give us a unique insight into the realities of growing up in Cleveland and what young people need to prosper.
“I’m grateful to all of the young participants for inspiring us to deliver the change they want to see.”
Read the Shape Your Safety: Young voices report