Schoolboy’s wake-up call for suburbs
SHOCKED BY STABBING OF YOUSEF MAKKI, TEENAGER FUNDS HARD-HITTING DRAMA
AN 18-year-old schoolboy who studies just three miles from where Yousef Makki was killed has raised £1,500 to fund a hard-hitting knife crime play for his school.
The stabbing of Yousef in Hale Barns shocked the affluent area of Trafford and its surrounding neighbourhoods.
None more so than Wellington School sixth form student Oliver Donnelly.
For him, the thought of knife crime in his quiet neighbourhood of Timperley seemed unbelievable.
From following coverage of the trial, reading in-depth reports about the case and what led to the death of the 17-year-old aspiring heart surgeon, it dawned on Oliver that knife crime was not exclusive to the inner city.
After reading an article about the hard-hitting knife crime play #GetHelp which was touring schools in Greater Manchester, Oliver reached out to the Salford-based charity The Broughton
Trust about the possibility of having them perform the play at his school.
Oliver said: “I didn’t know him personally or anything, but when you see something like that happen, and you live close to it, it sort of makes you realise, this is not an issue exclusive to one area. So after that, I thought, we had to raise awareness for this sort of crime, so we’ve brought these guys here in order to do that.
“It wasn’t until much later that I was given an opportunity to do something with the Broughton Trust, and I took it.”
During the summer months, along with fellow volunteers and the help of his deputy headteacher, Oliver raised money through a five-hour bike ride to Blackpool, raising £1,650.
The money was used to fund the performance of the play at Wellington School.
“I had never seen headlines like those around Trafford, all local news outlets reporting that somebody had been stabbed, it really woke me up and it was a shocking thing.” said Oliver.
“We do live in a wealthy area, and people don’t like to admit that it has issues, it does, and that was clearly highlighted in what took place.
“Although it’s not Salford, and we don’t hear about criminals and see stabbings, it still made me realise that this is happening and it is real.
“I’m not naive to think it won’t happen again, however if this audience can watch this play and be put off from carrying a knife, or using a knife then that’s objective completed from me.”