Havering Council is once again supporting the Home Office’s Knife Surrender Scheme (3 August - 31 August).
As part of the scheme and for the second year running, a mobile surrender van, which is operated by FazAmnesty, and is funded by the Home Office, was in Arcade Place in Romford, earlier this week (Thursday 13 August).
The van provided a safe and anonymous way to hand in knives and dangerous weapons with no questions asked.
Trained staff were at the van to take the knives, offering a non-judgemental “no questions asked” service, without the need to visit a police station.
All weapons handed in are deposited safely.
Alongside FazAmnesty staff, were the Council’s Community Safety team, Havering Youth Service and anti-knife campaigner Sue Hedges, from the Ricky Hayden Memorial and supports the Council's community safety team by distributing bleed kits around the borough.
Also on Thursday, the Council and partners introduced a new Ninja Knife Surrender bin outside the town hall in Romford, which has been donated by OpenView and Romford BID via Word 4 Weapons.
It is located next to the recycling bins in the car park, in Main Road.
This bin is in addition to the other permanent Word 4 Weapons Surrender Bin already in place in Central Park, Harold Hill, which in the first six months of being there last year (2025), saw over 270 knives and weapons surrendered and taken off the borough’s streets.
When using the bin remember:
- to wrap your weapon in newspaper, bubble wrap, or cloth, then place it in a sturdy bag or box that's completely sealed
- don't label the package and just go directly to the surrender location without making stops
- carrying weapons openly is illegal, but going directly to surrender gives you a "good reason" for possession if stopped by police.
Councillor Terry Brown, Havering’s Cabinet Member for Public Protection, said:
“We encourage anyone in possession of any weapons to do the right thing and surrender them.This means more lives will be saved.
"But we also urge not to carry them in the first place.
“Hosting the knife amnesty van and having another knife amnesty bin in Havering is part of our commitment along with our partners, to do what we can to help make our borough as safe as possible for all our residents and visitors.
“We do not tolerate knife crime in Havering and the fear and devastating impact it has on communities.
"Not only are we working with police and our partners towards the prevention and reduction of this crime, but we are also working alongside the police to help bring perpetrators to justice.
The message is clear: we won’t tolerate knife crime in Havering.”
Julie Frost, Romford BID Director, said: “Romford BID is proud to support this important initiative to help make our town centre safer for everyone.
“Providing a safe and anonymous way for people to surrender knives and dangerous weapons can help prevent them from ending up on our streets and potentially causing devastating harm.
“We are pleased to work alongside Havering Council, the Home Office and our partners to support practical measures that help tackle knife crime and keep our community safe.”