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Midlands Air Ambulance Charity
(Image caption: Staffordshire-based Midlands Air Ambulance Charity volunteers visited the Knife Angel in July 2023, when it toured in Lichfield.)
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is raising awareness of its vital bleed control training following the arrival of the iconic ‘Knife Angel’ to Walsall, this month.
As part of its National Youth Anti-Violence Tour, Alfie Bradley and The British Ironwork Centre’s Knife Angel has been installed in Gallery Square in Walsall’s town centre and will be there until 28th December 2023.
During the past year, of the missions involving sharp objects, that Midlands Air Ambulance Charity attended in the West Midlands, more than a quarter, (28 per cent), were in Walsall, making the arrival of the 27-foot-high sculpture even more pertinent.
The Knife Angel is made from 100,000 seized blades paying tribute to the lives lost through thoughtless actions, while highlighting the negative side effects of violent and aggressive behaviour. The knives used to construct it were confiscated by 43 police forces across the UK.
In light of the Knife Angel visit, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is raising awareness of its bleed control skills sessions that it provides to schools, businesses and community groups across the region. The charity has also recently implemented a Bleed Control Kit in its local charity shop, situated in the Saddlers Centre in Walsall town centre.
Kay Starkey, West Midlands fundraising executive for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “The visit from the Knife Angel sculpture is a poignant reminder of the growing concerns around knife crime in Walsall and the wider Midlands region.
“At Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, we are committed to building awareness of not only the effects of knife crime, but how to rapidly respond to knife-related injuries should our community ever need to. Catastrophic bleed control is an integral part of our Mission Support skills sessions we provide across the county, where we demonstrate how to use a bleed control kit in the event of an emergency, giving bystanders the skills and confidence to assist before our clinicians even arrive on scene.”
The Knife Angel will be in Walsall until 28th December alongside a series of events, workshops, and other activities in the town.
Find out more about the charity’s Mission Support skills sessions and how to book a place, by visiting its education page.
Learn more about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity by visiting the website and following the organisation on social media.