Famous Knife Angel sculpture to visit Wrexham later this summer

The famous Knife Angel will be visiting Wrexham this summer as part of its tour across the UK.

The sculpture, which is made up of over 100,000 seized knives, will be on display in the town throughout July.

It aims to raise awareness over the negative effects that violent behaviour and knife crime can have.

The announcement was made by the British Ironworks yesterday, with a statement explaining that the organisation had recently met with Council Leader Mark Pritchard and councillor Terry Evans, lead member for economic regeneration.

The statement continues onto say: “The Maddocks and McNeil families, both from the Wrexham area, were the first to step forward during the Knife Angel’s creation to provide us with the local support and encouragement needed to know that we were doing the right thing through our ‘Save A Life, Surrender Your Knife’ campaign.

“In 2013, Craig Maddocks was brutally attacked in a Wrexham pub and, in the same year, Lisa McNeil’s son, Danny Jones, was fatally stabbed in Oswestry.

“Carrying Craig and Danny’s stories with them, both families gave us the peace of mind needed to continue the Angel’s creation and further highlighted our reasoning behind creating the monument and its coinciding message against all forms of violence.”

The angel’s time in Wrexham will also include a 28-days of intensive educational programmes and workshops for young people.

Host locations are asked to utilise the angel as a point of tuition in order to ignite conversation over difficult subjects surrounding aggressive behaviour, carrying weaponry, and using violence as a resource for addressing problems.

Following Newtown’s success with their campaign, Wrexham will also be committed to hopefully deputising a minimum of 10,000 children and young people into becoming ‘Anti-Violence Champions’.

Additionally, Wrexham will be provided with a knife bank during the angel’s stay. Following their hosting period, all blades collected through this amnesty will be handed back to ourselves by the North Wales Police and will be used to create and continue the Angel’s legacy within Wales.

The British Ironworks state that it is currently in the process of mocking up designs with consideration of the Welsh dragon and other imagery synonymous with Wales.

The statement adds: “With the Ironworks being so close to the North Wales border, Wrexham has a very special place in our hearts.

“Tens of thousands of our members and visitors are from the Wrexham area and many have watched the Knife Angel’s journey since before its creation even began.

“For the town’s residents to see the Angel within their own community is truly exciting and we can’t wait to see how they utilise the monument to benefit their region whilst creating the social change necessary to turn the tide on violence and aggression.”

Picture: The British Ironwork Centre