Carry A Basketball not a Blade celebrated its 15th year, reports Neandra Etienne
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and Newham councillors attended the Newham All Star Sports Academy (NASSA) Vs Metropolitan Police basketball game at UEL Sportsdock, to celebrate 15 years of NASSA’s award-winning Carry a Basketball Not a Blade initiative. NASSA won the match 77-22.
This is an education programme supported by the police which alerts young people to the dangers of knife crime. It reaches over 3,000 children and young people in Newham each year.
The programme was created by NASSA player Anthony Okereafor after two of his friends died from knife crime within weeks of each other.
It was announced on 25 January that a new law will be introduced to ban zombie knives and machetes. Idris Elba, who went to school in Newham and recently launched an anti knife crime campaign called Don’t Stop Your Future, described the new legislation as “a significant step in the right direction. We need to ensure no loopholes can be exploited, and we will keep pushing for all dangerous weapons to be covered by the ban.”
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