‘I wanted a positive legacy for my son’
Yvonne’s son, Godwin, was a typical teenage boy. He was popular, loved his food, was mad about football – and always had to be reminded to tidy up his boots and socks!
Although Godwin was a natural sportsman, Yvonne always made sure he worked hard at school. ‘ You need your education to fall back on,’ she told her son. He was a strapping lad at 6ft 1in, always looked out for the people around him and put others before himself. People looked up to him – literally!
Then in 2009, he was offered a scholarship by Oxford United football club. It meant being away from the family home in Enfield five days a week but despite missing him terribly, Yvonne felt nothing but pride.
‘It was his dream,’ she says. Yvonne saw Godwin every weekend and he always said the same thing. ‘The food portions are so small in Oxford, Mum!’ He loved being at home and spending time with his brother, now 20, and two sisters, now 27 and 15, as well as his mates.
Then, on the 27 March 2010, an unthinkable tragedy struck. Godwin was on his way home for the weekend, when he saw his friend’s two brothers and watched as four other boys got out of a car and started to attack them.
He decided to help the brothers and stop the fight. But Godwin’s bravery cost him his life. He was stabbed to death, aged just 17.
‘My whole family’s life died that night with Godwin,’ Yvonne simply says. ‘I don’t think I will ever have the words to describe the pain of having your child murdered.
‘The moment anyone
decides to carry a knife, they are taking the whole family into the grave with them.’
The heartbroken family just about made it through Godwin’s funeral, and afterwards, they listened to stories about their son from his friends.
‘ We learned that he stood up for everyone, that he really loved being part of the community,’ Yvonne says with pride. It pained her that he’d miss every Christmas, every birthday, that she’d never she him marry or have kids…
But amazingly, in 2012, Yvonne, her husband Calvin, now 49, and their children decided Godwin should not be forgotten and that his legacy should be trying to stop knife crime on our streets. They wanted to try and prevent any other parent or brother or sister going though the agony and sense of loss they live with every day.
The Godwin Lawson Foundation campaigns to end knife crime, educate gangs and break down ‘postcode barriers’ in the war on knives.
The foundation also uses sport as a way to spread their message, as well as helping implement CitySafe Zones. These involve designated locations with over 50 ‘safe havens’ identifiable by a sticker where youngsters can go if they are in immediate physical danger.
Yvonne also works with the Metropolitan Police and politicians, and helped the BBC with their harrowing EastEnders storyline to raise awareness of London’s knife crime epidemic.
In 2015, Yvonne, now 47, worked with her local MP to help pass a knife crime bill in the House of Commons. It stated that if people were caught carrying a knife for a second time, they would be given a mandatory detention sentence. It was a huge achievement for the family.
Mum Yvonne knows nothing will bring her son back, but that small things can make a huge difference. ‘If one person does something, it helps, but if everyone does something, it will bring change,’ she explains.
She was honoured at the best Hero awards for being not only a remarkable woman, but a true champion for young people, whose efforts to educate and make our streets a safer place for all our kids, is an inspiration to us all.
‘I feel so special,’ Yvonne says. ‘I thank best for helping to spread this important message.’
Turn over for more stories of extraordinary heroes…