Plans for London's first mosque knife bank are to be revealed at a special event in Tooting this Saturday 6 July. This follows Wandsworth's second fatal stabbing in the last two weeks.

Bishops, imams, therapists, youth workers and former prisoners are coming together at the Tooting Knife Crime Conference to give guidance to parents and carers on what they can do now to stop their children stabbing someone or being stabbed.

Speakers will include:

• Sahar Beg, Tooting psychotherapist, trauma counsellor and director of Mindworks UK
• Bishop Noel McClean, Bishop of YCF network of churches, chaplain for Wandsworth Met Police, Chair of Wandsworth Strategic Hate Crime Group
• Jennifer Beckford, mother of Nicholas Steward who was stabbed to death aged 25 in Earlsfield, and founder of Nicholas Stewart Project 
• Mohamed Ali, Wandsworth family therapist and youth worker in the Somali community, founder of Elays Network
• Babar Ahmad, former prisoner and anti-crime youth activist based in Tooting
• Paul White, Labour councillor for Tooting

There will also be a video message played at the event from Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting. She said,“Young people are losing their lives to senseless violence which could be avoided with adequate policing, proper youth provision and through giving our young people a sense of hope and opportunity. I encourage parents and carers to attend this conference at Tooting Islamic Centre on Saturday 6 July to find out how they can play their part in dealing with this epidemic.”

This event is supported by the Metropolitan Police, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, and local mosques and churches. The event will be chaired by Arshad Daud, Vice Chair of Balham Mosque and Tooting Islamic Centre. He said, “Tooting Islamic Centre was one of the first mosques in the country to provide a community policing drop-in centre for the wider community, given its central location. We view the safety and security of our wider community as our civic and religious responsibility and will continue to do everything we can to facilitate such initiatives.”

The event takes place this Saturday 6 July, 2pm to 4pm, at Tooting Islamic Centre, 145 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7TJ. Admission is via the side entrance on Lessingham Avenue. For further information, please contact Arshad Daud at arshaddaud@ymail.com