The Knife Angel

Added 1663308261 by Photographer Gino Cinganelli.

The Knife Angel (also referred to as the National Monument Against Violence & Aggression) is a contemporary sculpture formed of 100,000 knives created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre, based in Oswestry, England. Completed in 2018, the structure of the angel stands at 27 ft (8.2 m) tall. In order to create the sculpture, 200 knife banks were produced by the Ironworks … The sculpture's aim is to help to educate and inform the youth of the severity of knife crime in the UK. It has a clear message - that violence doesn't solve problems. And poignantly, the remarkable 20ft statue acts as a memorial for people who lost their lives due to knife crime. In Maidstone in 2020 there were 104 reports of crimes involving knives - that's two a week. Across the county as a whole, knife crime incidents have tripled in 10 years - from 1,041 in 2011 to 3,589 in 2021. Medway has experienced the most offences, having record 688 reports of knife crime in 2021. The idea for the Knife Angel came from Clive Knowles, Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, in 2014 after increased cases of knife crime across the country. One Maidstone Business Improvement District organised the angel's visit to Maidstone. The main body of the angel is made up of knives that have either been seized by police or surrendered to one of the 43 police forces helping the British Ironwork Centre. The wings of the angel are made up of weapons that have been used in knife attacks and were seized as evidence. Some were left with small traces of blood on them and can be seen on the statue. Families of the victims were allowed to leave messages of hope, love or disbelief on the knives, which can be seen engraved onto them. Since December 2018 it has been touring the UK as part of the National Anti-Violence Tour Programme. The host locations are providing 30 days of intensive educational workshops and programmes alongside the statue to further help bring about social change. Knife Angel will be at St Faith's Church in Station Road from today (September 5) until October 4. This will be the second time the statue has been to Kent after it was at Rochester Cathedral back in September 2019.