This Week saw a delegation from South Wales Police travel for a creativity meeting here in Shropshire, to brainstorm ideas over producing what is hoped to become one of - Wales’s latest and most iconic Monuments.

This initial meeting was headed by Amanda Blakemore Deputy Chief Constable for the Gwent Constabulary, who has within recent times moved to Gwent Police from right here in West Mercia.

Amanda was instrumental in leading the team that bought together the project to create the National Police Dog Memorial sculpture which permanently sits outside West Mercia Police Headquarters at Hinlip Hall Worcester. This sculpture represents and pays tribute to the services and the sacrifices of police dogs throughout the county and the nation, it was entirely created from weaponry recovered from within the West Mercia area.

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.

After being based at Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Gobowen since 1957, we are proud to announce that the Croesoswallt Archery Club, which were previously called the Overton Archers, are now officially based here at the British Ironworks Centre! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RJAH have had to make a few changes to ensure the safety of their staff and patients, meaning that the archery club could no longer be based on their grounds. But, when they approached us about homing their club here at the Centre, we were absolutely thrilled and couldn’t wait to have them with us!

Designed specifically to create further awareness and to better educate school children about the importance of protecting our oceans and marine life, the School’s Ocean Trail Project is now officially open to all local and regional schools in the Telford & Wrekin area. We have been working alongside Telford & Wrekin Council to develop this project since the beginning of the year and we are so excited for it to finally start!

Last month, we were approached by a representative of BBC Crimewatch to take part in an interview for their show. The Crimewatch team have been following and working alongside the West Mercia Police (WMP) to find out more about how they are reducing crime within their region, with ourselves forming a part of the final elements of their filming. We were featured on BBC One’s Crimewatch Roadshow on Thursday 10^th of September at 9:15am.

On Friday, a new fundraising installation was erected by Hope House staff – a stunning Butterfly Garden which is now on display at the British Ironworks Centre in Oswestry. The hand-painted metal butterflies were designed with the help of staff,parents, and children, all inputting over the appropriate colours and shapes to be used. The butterfly symbol was chosen as it’s known across the world as a symbol of life, change, endurance, and especially HOPE.

The Wirral University Teaching Hospital Charity (WUTH) help thousands of patients every year, supporting both Arrowe Park Hospital and Clatterbridge Hospital based in the Wirral area. Their mission is to improve the quality of patient care through multiple avenues, including the purchase of medical equipment and through the direct enhancement of patient’s experiences. Earlier this year, we were approached by the charity regarding launching their very own metal flower campaign. Over the past few years, we have supported a large number of UK hospices, but WUTH are the first ever hospital charity that we have helped with this kind of campaign.

Today has seen another shocking and very large delivery of blades and mixed weapons arriving with the Ironworks from safe police storage facilities in Worcestershire. The delivery, which arrived via waste contractors BIFFA, featured a skip filled to the brim with blades, swords, and other such weapons removed from public spaces throughout the West Mercia area. Most of the weapons were in bio-hazard tubes following analysis and the completion of investigative police processing.

Just yesterday, a 7.5 tonne lorry arrived here at the Ironworks to deliver thousands of weapons – including knives and guns – which have 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.

We were honoured to be visited by Gabrielle Cochrane, the Supporter Relations Officer for Longfield Hospice, who was here at the Centre yesterday to collect more metal flowers for their ‘Forget Me Not’ campaign. The campaign forms a part of our National Hospice Support Programme, where we aim to support all hospices across the country to raise additional funding for their individual causes. Gabrielle was also here to give us some great news over how incredibly well their campaign has been going so far and presented us with a certificate to thank us for our support. Having launched their campaign just before lockdown, Longfield Hospice have faced a lot of adversity throughout. Their staff have worked incredibly hard to ensure that their supporters received their flowers, and all of their amazing work has definitely paid off as the hospice have already raised a HUGE £37.5K for their cause!