Knife angel gleams in the sun in Middesborough
Shropshire's knife angel has the sun in its hand, and everyone talking about it in Middlesborough.
This stunning image was taken by photographer, Andrew Thistlewaite, and depicts the anti-knife crime sculpture as it sits in the centre of the north-east town.
Anti-knife campaigner, Theresa Cave, whose son Christopher was murdered on Teeside in 2003, campaigned to get the 20ft plus sculpture to the town.
Cleveland has the ninth highest level of knife crime per 1,000 population in the UK.
As part of the stipulations for those hosting the angel, the area has agreed to run 28 days of anti-violence workshops and education in the community.
The knife angel was created by artist, Alfie Bradley, at the British Ironwork Centre at Oswestry as part of the centre's Save a Life, Surrender your Knife campaign.
More than 100,000 knives, with most donated by the country’s 43 police forces, were used by the sculptor to create the angel, which stands an imposing 27ft tall.
Some of the blades have since been engraved by families in memory of loved ones – including by the brother of Theresa’s son Chris Cave, who was stabbed to death in Redcar.
Clive Knowles, chairman of the centre, said: "The knife crime figures for Clevelend are a truly shocking number and prompted people in the county to raise better awareness.
"Because of this, we felt as if they could really benefit from hosting the angel to use its powerful presence to help launch new initiatives and programmes to turn the tide on violent behaviour."
