A HARD-HITTING talk about the potential impact of knife crime and violence has been delivered to students at a Rugby secondary school.
Award winning campaigner Alison Cope talked to students from Years 8 to 10 at Avon Valley School about the dangers of being associated with gangs, and how young people can portray themselves negatively on social media.
Alison brought home the reality of knife crime to the students by sharing the tragic story of her son, Joshua Ribera, an aspiring and rising musician who was tragically murdered in 2013.
Since her son’s death, Alison has campaigned on social media and has spoken to hundreds of thousands of young people and parents in memory of Josh, also known through his grime music as Depzman. She also launched the Joshua Ribera Achievement Awards, recognising young people who are not in mainstream education.
Headteacher Alison Davies said: “We are very grateful to Alison for visiting our school and speaking to our students about how her son tragically lost his life.
“The assemblies were very emotional and at times difficult to listen to. However, this was a very important message for our students to hear.
“It’s clear the students took on board Alison’s message as many of them were talking about the assembly afterwards. We have also given students opportunity to discuss this further through a number of subsequent activities.”
Alison Cope’s visit was made possible through a project with Aspire in Arts, and was funded by the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner. She was joined by youth workers and music mentors from Aspire in Arts who worked with a number of students, telling them about opportunities to be involved in positive activities.
