What a day of collaboration we had at the Mount in Acton on Saturday 7th October. The sun came out and so did Acton Residents.
The whole community came together to share an important message!
In August a local group ‘ A Mothers Tear Drop’ approached us and asked if they could host an event at Acton Market. A Mothers Tear Drop has worked tirelessly for the last 20 years in order to raise awareness of knife and other violent crime commitmented by young people towards each other.
The events aimed where to share important messages about personal safety and safer communities, in order to raise the awareness of the fact that violence can never be a solution. We knew this message was something the heart of Acton needed and the event soon grew into a collaboration with St Mary’s Church on the Mount, the Market and Action West London. The end result saw the community come out on the 7th for not only fun but to hear passionate messages about the effects of violence and what solutions are available to prevent these crimes from occuring.
Local street dance group Elevate Arts opened the event with some superb unified street dance. They were awesome!
Ealing Mayor Hitesh Taylor attended the event and spent time with the community, our traders and he introduced the speakers.
Police officers from Acton and Brentford were there to provide information on personal safety and were also providing personal alarms to the public .
Rev Joseph from St Mary’s Church opened up the church to visitors and also accommodated the entertainment and supported ‘A Mothers Tear Drop’ to make this all happen . The Rev also gave a passionate speach about the root cause of violence and how we can move towards better safer communities.
Cllr Grace Quansah and Rupa Huq MP also attended and contributed with very important words of wisdom . Grace read a poem she’d written and then adapted especially for this event.
Vanessa and Delroy from ‘A Mothers Tear Drop’, spoke passionatly about the loss of their son Anton and why its so important for young people to understand they have more options than violence.
We want to thank you to the DJs who came from all over London and gave their time and skills for free .
We also want to thank, Acton Fire Station officers who came down to the Mount with a fire engine and made many children happy! Also a big thanks to the NHS blood donation team, Descendents, and Ealing Council who all came along with important community information.
Finally a massive thanks to all the Acton residents for showing up , taking part and standing together that prove there is no #community without #unity!
If you want to know more about how charities can help combat knife crime read our CEOS blog – Click here
By Zahra Shah