West Mercia Police Visit the Ironworks for a Sneak Preview

Earlier this week, the West Mercia Police visited us right here at the British Ironwork Centre to get a sneak preview of the Police Dog Memorial that we are creating to honour the services of our operational and specialist dogs. We knew that at least one member of the police force were due to meet with our chairman Clive Knowles but when three officers turned up, we were even more delighted to showcase the current progress of the memorial! The police were thrilled by what we’ve created so far and are very excited to get the memorial finished and positioned outside of their HQ.

Getting the Knife Angel to Birmingham

Following our national plea to get the Knife Angel hosted by every city nationwide, we wrote letters to all city councils in the UK. Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Ian Ward, responded to one of these letters by saying that they are very keen to host the Angel and will be discussing the formal internal process of getting it there in the coming weeks. With the recent rise in the number of knife crimes committed in Birmingham, we are exceptionally thrilled by this news and will be strongly campaigning for the Angel to be hosted there as soon as possible.

Boris Johnson Backs the National Monument against Violence and Aggression

After four years of countless unsuccessful attempts to get the Knife Angel onto the 4^th plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square, The British Ironwork Centre’s Founder and Chairman Clive Knowles recently met with Boris Johnson, Former Mayor and Foreign Secretary, to discuss backing and supporting the monument.

Another Six Buckets Collected from the Ironworks’ Permanent Wishing Wells

In aid of all the incredible work that Hope House do for our regional communities, we have had three wishing wells set up across the Ironwork’s site for our visitors to donate into. These wishing wells have already been emptied four times since they were placed due to the volume of our visitors and members making wishes, and we hope to see them emptied even more in the coming year.

The creators of the 27ft tall Knife Angel made from 100,000 knives are now reaching out to all UK cities in a national plea for them to host the magnificent sculpture. The British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry is hoping other cities will follow suit after Liverpool, Hull and now Coventry have all committed to hosting the Sculpture as part of its National Tour.

As with any airport in Europe, Stansted Airport in London has to deal with an incredibly large number of people entering its doors every day, with a huge 27 million passengers per year. Occasionally some of these passengers may bring a blade into the airport and, although it is unlikely that many of these knives are being carried with malicious intent, the safety of its patrons is always at the forefront of Stansted’s day to day concerns.

Ironworks to Receive a Recognition Award from the West Mercia Police

On Friday the 1^st of March, the West Mercia Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Tracey Onslow, and Deputy Chief Constable, Amanda Blakeman, visited us to present Clive Knowles, Chairman and Founder of The British Ironwork Centre, with a special award to recognise all of our help and support over the years. The award not only celebrates the support given to West Mercia, but it also recognises the impact that our initiatives have had in increasing awareness surrounding knife related violence and developing safer communities across the UK.

The National Monument against Violence and Aggression, the “Knife Angel”, has now been on its grand UK tour since the end of November 2018. Beginning its journey stood outside of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral over the Christmas holidays, the Angel has since travelled to the Queen’s Gardens in Hull, and is now set to continue its journey onwards to Coventry in March. The Angel is set to be placed on a raised platform right outside of Coventry’s Cathedral Ruins for the Easter period, where it will help to front the Cathedral entryway adjacent to a sculpture of the Angel St Michael, erected in 1958.

Our aim is to help as many hospices across the UK as we possibly can to achieve a national total of one million pounds. In 2018, we enabled a total of five hospices to achieve a whopping £179K through various Forget Me Not campaigns. In 2019, as part of our National Hospice Support Programme, we are hoping to triple our efforts towards reaching the million mark.

Recognised nationally as a long-established and greatly-respected awarding body, the British Coach Tourism Awards (BCTA) aim to honour and award those in the industry who are truly exceptional at what they do for coach trips and their visitors across the UK. The awards are as much an honour as they are a representation of what all coach tourism industry professionals should aspire to be – winners represent the industry’s elite and are recognised as setting the bar for true coach tourism excellence.