Spotlight on knife, gun and gang crime

AN Oldham theatre company has won a £30,000 grant to tackle knife, gun and gang crime in the borough.

Peshkar Productions’ bid for a slice of the £4.5 million Home Office Community Fund was successful and work will start next month.

The three-year project will tackle issues surrounding knives, guns and gangs in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour and steer young people in the right direction.

The first year will concentrate on knives, with participants putting themselves in the shoes of both a victim of knife crime and a perpetrator.

Families of stabbing victims will also be interviewed by the group and they will visit the police station, court and jail to get a real insight into the effects of knife crime.

They will also visit hospitals, mortuaries and graveyards to see the other side of knife crime as well as writing their own obituaries to make them think about how they would like to be remembered.

The first year will culminate in a drama production with the youngsters helping with scripts and staging.

It is hoped that the play will tour schools, colleges and youth groups to spread the anti-knife crime message.

Year two’s focus is guns with the group making a rap video in the style of Crime Watch.

And year three concentrates on gangs, with the end project being a crime diary that will be distributed to relevant agencies in the borough.

Participants will keep a video diary to chart their progress and see if their opinions on knives, guns and gangs have altered.

The 20 people recruited to take part each year will be aged from 13 to 25.

Anyone can apply to take part and should contact project manager Conor Ibraheim on 0161-620 4284, or send an e-mail to admin@peshkar.org.uk  for more information.

Conor said: “The ultimate message we want to get across is that crime has no pension plan.

“We are not saying Oldham is a particularly bad town, but due to the ethnic mix gangs do form and we want to help change perspectives and nip problems in the bud before they escalate.

“We want to change people’s opinions and get them thinking about things from a range of perspectives.