Song explores knife crime rise

THE BISHOP of Reading and the town’s football club have sponsored a music video to highlight the problem of rising knife crime, writes Jess Warren.

You Were Born to Fly: You Weren’t Born to Die is a music video that was filmed in Reading for Redeeming Our Communities’ No More Knives initiative.

Supported by the Diocese of Oxford, Reading Football Club Community Trust and Thames Valley Police, the song aims to share a message of hope.

Over the last 12 months, 62 knife offences have been recorded in the borough, with many leading to deaths in the community.

It comes as PC Russ Massie of Thames Valley Police shared his experience of an attempted murder, as part of Operation Sceptre — a weeklong initiative to tackle knife crime in the region, during which more than 250 knives were handed into amnesty bins.

“Any moment something can happen and change your life,” he said.

PC Massie said after the incident, which happened almost 10 years ago, adrenaline flooded through his body, and hands started shaking.

“I was really scared, but actually it was the adrenaline leaving me afterwards that felt as if — it’s like I couldn’t stop crying. It lasted for about 20 minutes,” he said.

“There’s things about it that just don’t leave you ever.

“When I deal with an incident with a knife,

I’m a bit more wary. You know, once bitten, twice shy. And I think sometimes I still do the right thing, but the day I stop, that’s the day I stop being a police officer.

“That won’t happen, but I’m still nervous about it. So please bear in mind, if you see us out and about, just have a little think about what we’ve been through.

“It is just a uniform, it’s not a force field.” Reflecting on the campaign, the Rt Revd Olivia Graham, Bishop of Reading said many young people live in fear of becoming a victim of knife crime.

“We have to ask ourselves, why are our young people carrying knives?” she said.

“What is it telling us about ourselves and our society?”

She said the Diocese was delighted to fund the song, which carries a message that people are born for greater things.

Josh Green who wrote, recorded and produced the track, said it was created as a direct response to the rise in knife crime bringing “havoc” on the community.

“Knife crime doesn’t just affect the victim; it has a ripple effect that can be felt for years to come. We hope that this video will serve as an inspiration and encouragement to the people of Reading that life is valuable and that young people can choose to make positive choices with their lives.

“It is our hope that this message will spark a movement in the UK of young people rising up to take a stand for life.”