Knife Angel continues tour - to Telford and Wolverhampton

The sculpture, currently in the north east, will return to the Midlands for its trip to Telford throughout March and then Wolverhampton.

The British Ironwork Centre said it had good links with Wolverhampton, supplying the city with knife amnesty bins.

Wolverhampton Councillor, Roger Lawrence, engraved a blade on the Angel’s wings when he visited its Shropshire home in 2018.

The Angel is set to stand in Queen Square, in the centre of Wolverhampton’s city centre, just a stone’s throw away from the civic hall and art gallery.

Ironwork Centre chairman, Clive Knowles, said: "Wolverhampton has expressed a lot of enthusiasm for hosting the Angel and is already eagerly anticipating the Angel’s landing in the city. It have agreed to utilise the Angel to educate their community youth about the negative effects of violent behaviour through 28 days of intensive workshops and programmes."

He said the centre welcomed Constable Diane Shepherd and Nicki Summers, who said they wanted children in the city to become anti-violence champions.

"We ask every host location to deputise a minimum of 10,000 children and young people with Wolverhampton incredibly positive that it will far exceed this number."

At the moment the Knife Angel is at the most northernly point yet of its National Anti-Violence Tour – Gateshead in Newcastle.

"The Angel has been installed in Gateshead’s most prized location in Performance Square just opposite the Sage building. The Sage Gateshead is a highly prestigious and world-renowned music centre dedicated to hosting talent from all across the world. The Angel is overlooking some of the north’s most famous landmarks including the River Tyne and the Millennium bridge, the perfect location."

The visit is in collaboration with Samantha’s Legacy, a charity formed after the tragic death of Samantha Madgin, the Gateshead Council, and the Northumbria Police.

"The Knife Angel has been illuminated in red to not only stand out against the background, but to also symbolise the unnecessary bloodshed that violent behaviour has caused all across the country," he added.

"Our main objective for the three-year Anti-Violence Tour is to increase awareness over rejecting violent and aggressive behaviour as a means for solving disputes in order to create the necessary social change to end all forms of violence."