Sunday, 27 September 2020

British Ironworks Centre remembering the Manchester Bombing

Dear Blogger

Hopefully this will not apply to people in our area.

Message from the British Ironworks Centre.

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Calling all Families Affected by the Manchester Arena Tragedy!
The Greater Manchester Police Work in Collaboration with the British Ironwork Centre to Create an Anti-Violence Monument


In July, a 7.5 tonne lorry arrived here at the Ironworks to deliver thousands of weapons – including knives and guns – which have all been collected from the streets of Manchester. All weapons were collected as part of the Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) 'Forever Amnesty'. The knife and gun banks used for the amnesty were designed and created here at the Centre and have been utilised as a continual programme to encourage and support the public to surrender their dangerous weapons in order to clear the streets of violent and aggressive behaviour. Manchester are the first location in the UK to develop and commit to an ongoing amnesty project like this, with all collected weapons to be used to create an anti-violence monument for the city.


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Pictured: Clive Knowles, Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre & Paul Nolan, GMP Sergeant (Violence Reduction Unit)


In 2017, a horrific attack took place at the Manchester Arena whereby a shrapnel-laden bomb was detonated following an Ariana Grande Concert. Twenty-three people lost their lives and over 800 people were injured as a result, leaving families and the city at large completely devastated. With Manchester's anti-violence monument symbolising the city's complete intolerance to all forms of violent behaviour, we wanted to use its creation as an opportunity to reach out to all the families affected by the shocking and deeply saddening event that took place at the Manchester Arena on the 22nd of May 2017. We would like to invite all affected families to inscribe something onto the sculpture, allowing them to immortalise their lost loved one whilst simultaneously standing up against violence. The inscription will include the name of a lost loved one or the name of someone who was injured during the attack.