The dangers of weapon possession are a matter to get concerned. Crystal Roof UK puts weapon possession as the 14th, and last, type of crime rate in the Southwark Area with 63 confirmed cases in the last year.
Ryan Biddiss, a 26-year-old based in Woolwich started the campaign after he had a depressive episode brought upon by his father passing away from cancer in 2020, as he thought he needed to focus on something else in order to move on.
By the time lockdown finished Ryan had started the POC patrol, Protect Our Children, a mobile knife/weapons amnesty in London and Kent. The aim of the program is to ensure that the streets of the Southwark Area remain safe for everyone, though of course his plan is to ensure that the entirety of London will benefit.
“I’m going to keep it going, I want it to be the community working together as a community to help build their community.”
Ever since he started, Ryan has encountered a lot of different types of knifes, hand weapons and even once an air rifle, unfortunately he does not have a record of the exact number of weapons he has collected.
“The air rifle is the only full working gun I have taken; I have done a collection previously with part of a gun the handle and a small bag of 140 rounds (ammo).”
Ryan contacted the police and council to see if he could work alongside them, both of them said that they would indeed want to work with him yet they have not contacted him ever since. Not only has Ryan considered this to be disappointing, it could be seen to reflect the necessity for his program, as knife crime is seemingly not a police priority.
“I would like the community to get involved if they are up for it and feel comfortable and safe! If they don’t feel up to the weapons collections, they could always help with driving me if I need to do a collection or even just promoting and sharing the work I do to raise as much awareness as possible!”
Ryan’s personal objective is to make people aware that carrying knives, or any type of offensive weapon- even if the goal is protection- does more harm for themselves and the community than it does good. He wants to free people of the violence in their hearts creating a safe community for any person, of any gender, age etc. at any time because people have the right to not feel scared or threatened under any circumstances.
As he does not receive any type of funding- government or otherwise- he is trying to raise funds to purchase Catastrophic Bleed Kits for the local community. These essential supplies can be used not only for victim of knife crime but it can potentially save someone’s life at work, passing by, playing football or car accident anything with a major bleed.
“It is hard as I don’t receive any funding, everything I do is from my pocket to get to and from collections or pay for cabs etc.” So far it has been awhile since Ryan started his crusade against weapons and violence, and it seems nothing will stop him until his objective is achieved.
