Lee Jones, Business Development Manager of Wrexham FC, Lisa Maddocks, Edna Maddocks & Clive Knowles, Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre
A national anti-knife crime campaign spearheaded by a Welsh borders company has been bolstered by the backing of Wrexham Football Club.
The British Ironwork Centre, Oswestry, will embark upon an extensive tour of UK cities during the coming months with the aim of encouraging young people to surrender their weapons and make the streets of Britain’s communities safer places for all.
The campaign has rapidly gathered pace and prestigious support having gained the national backing of the Association of Chief Police Officers and Terry Waite.
The Centre’s team visited Lee Jones, Business Development Manager of Wrexham FC’s Racecourse Community Foundation, and Ann Marie Brown, Trustee, along with Lisa Maddocks and her mother, Edna, who sadly lost their brother and son, Craig Maddocks, to knife crime in Llay, Wrexham, last year. They were delighted when the football club were quick to offer their wholehearted support to the project.
Wrexham’s Community Foundation team were very receptive and sympathetic to the cause, feeling that both sport and the community can and must do more to help the fight against knife crime. Lee and Ann Marie are to work with the first-team squad with a view to encouraging a member to become an Ambassador for the campaign and, to the campaign team’s great surprise, offered to hold a tribute football match at the Racecourse. This will feature a full minute’s applause prior to kick-off both in support of the campaign and in memory of Craig Maddocks, a great football fan.
Clive Knowles, Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, said “We are both delighted and overwhelmed by the support of Wrexham FC – we would like to thank Lee and Ann Marie who have offered us far more support than we could have hoped for.”
“It is fantastic to have their support – football players are ideally placed to gain the respect of the young people we hope to reach out to, and to help educate youngsters in our communities of the wide-reaching effects of this tragic topic.”
