Pupils who took part in a new knife crime awareness programme have shared how it's helped them better understand why these crimes happen and how to stay out of trouble themselves.

'Mind the Knife' was trialled in 12 secondary schools across Kent earlier this year, run by Maidstone and Mid-Kent Mind (MMKM) and Youth Resilience UK.

Maidstone and Mid-Kent Mind give an insight into 'Mind the Knife'

It comes as knife crime incidents reach a nation-wide record level, despite the number of crimes in the county overall falling by more than 4,000 incidents last year.

Trained staff ran sessions with the aim of better educating young people about the prevalence of knife crime and the link between poor mental health and violent acts.

Teenagers were taught how negative thoughts can have negative outcomes if they don't use coping mechanisms to help them make the right decisions.

Now Mind has released a video where in which those who took part reveal how the course has helped them.

Participants are anonymous, but one said how he liked the sessions taught him things he would not normally be able to speak about in class.

He added: "I like learning about this because it's obviously really big because of how many knife crimes there are going on. We can learn different things that what we do in class."

Another explained how he thought it was just an issue in other areas and said: "I've learnt how bad knife crime actually is and how dangerous it is - I didn't think it was actually that bad."

Teachers have also commented on 'Mind the Knife'.

One said: "We have a lot of kids here that are always involved in local violence, so it's a big concern for me - the rise and the lack of consequence, which encourages it a little bit.

"The kids don't have a fear of consequence - they'll do whatever. They think if someone has upset them, it's okay to fight them and attack them and kick them when they're on the floor because they don't see the consequences and that that's not normal behaviour."

"It isn’t an easy subject to discuss but they take it very seriously and want to understand what sits behind this national crisis of youth violence"

Another added: "Because the sessions were weekly, the children were able to go away and think about what's been said. They would come back with great questions and you saw the confidence build within the group. It was very rewarding.

"They'll then have conversations with their friends about what they learnt - it's spreading the word and we need that."

The five-week programme was made possible by a £31,200 grant from Kent’s Violence Reduction Unit.

Mind is now seeking more funding so it can educate more young people as possible in the future. Schools are also encouraged to contact the charity if they feel the course may benefit their students.

Chief executive of MMKM Julie Blackmore said: "We are delighted with the success the programme and believe early intervention and education is crucial in allowing young people to build resilience against knife crime and be aware of options that have better outcomes for their mental health and wellbeing.

"The feedback from all the young people who engaged in the programme has been incredibly positive."

Director of Youth Resilience UK Kelly Walker added: "The engagement from the pupils has been remarkable. It isn’t an easy subject to discuss but they take it very seriously and want to understand what sits behind this national crisis of youth violence.

"We have been working with a family whose son was the victim of a knife crime incident and their input has really helped us shape the way we are working in schools.

"We look forward to returning to our normal delivery post Covid-19 and working with funders to expand the impact of our delivery."

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