Home Secretary Suella Braverman was in Milton Keynes yesterday afternoon (20th April) visiting the 'inspirational' anti-knife crime charity Boxing Clever.
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, is a huge champion of the local scheme and Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, who has helped fund the scheme, both joined the Home Secretary at the boxing club in Kiln Farm.
The Home Secretary recently laid out plans to ban machetes and zombie knives to help tackle knife crime, but was keen to learn more about the successful preventative initiatives such as Boxing Clever.
The scheme is led by Head Coach of Bletchley Amateur Boxing Club Kevin McCarthy, Head of Programmes Claire Byrne and their team, with the support of PC Cafe and PC Prestige.
Suella Braverman met coaches, young people taking part in Boxing Clever and even donned some boxing gloves in the ring for a quick spot of training.
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said: "It was an absolute pleasure to welcome the Home Secretary to Milton Keynes today so she could experience for herself the inspirational work Kevin, Claire and all the team at Boxing Clever do to support young people and keep them away from crime.
"Suella knows how much I've been fighting to tackle knife crime right here in Milton Keynes and preventative approaches like Boxing Clever are such an important part of that."
Milton Keynes has also benefitted from significant Government funding for the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit and PCC Matthew Barber last year launched Op Deter, a new proactive approach to tackling knife crime.
Matthew Barber commented: “I love the work of Boxing Clever. They’re an inspirational group who are a great example of the proactive work that can make such a difference in our communities.
“As part of my Crimefighters strategy Thames Valley Police will be doubling the number of neighbourhood police officers this year. We now have more than 5,000 officers across the force - more than ever before- and I want to ensure this results in visible hotspot patrols to prevent crime.”
