Exclusive:’We have to be prepared all the time for a knife crime incident’-Havering bereaved mum.

“I think our communities have now realised that we have to be prepared all the time for a knife crime incident. We will never eradicate knife crime, but we can educate families and try and push the youth towards the right direction,” says anti knife crime campaigner and bereaved mother Sue Hedges.

This weeks marks knife crime awareness week and Sue is a long standing anti knife crime campaigner not just in Havering, but right across the capital.

In 2016, Sue lost her son Ricky Hayden to knife crime. Ricky was fatally stabbed outside his home in Marks Gate where thieves armed with machetes went to steal his brother’s moped.

Ricky’s death destroyed his family, they will never recover from losing him.

“I’m glad to see all organisations working together including councils, and the community to tackle knife crime. The only way forward is to unite as a community and work together.

“We can see that knife crime is out of control on our streets. Everyday we hear of another stabbing. So many children are losing their life on the streets of London and not a word is said by anyone.

“Parents are scared, they fear sending their children out. Teenagers are now completely desensitised to knife crime. They hear of another stabbing and it makes very little impact on them. This is the society we are living in.”

Sue not only spends her day campaigning against knife crime, but also donating vital life saving Daniel Baird bleed kits across the community.

“These bleed bags are proven life savers. I try and donate as many as I can to as many venues as I can as part of the Ricky Hayden Memorial. If we can help save a live, then it is important to share these kits right across our communities,” adds the bereaved mother.

The bereaved families in our community are tired of fighting these battles alone with very little support.

“Everyday we wake up and hope that someone will actually intervene and help us in this never ending battle, yet it never happens. We are very tired of fighting this on our own. There is next to no justice for knife crime families.

“We have organised so many protests, so many events, we have made our voices heard outside Number 10, City Hall and no one listens or cares, that is the bottom line.

“We know that the only way forward is to unite the community ourselves and work together to stop this epidemic on our streets.”

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