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Alison now works tirelessly to help prevent youth violence by sharing Joshua’s unique life and death story to educate young people on the realties and consequences of youth violence as part of her campaign work.

The session will be held at Life Church, Bedworth on Tuesday, 13 June from 6pm until 8pm and those who would like to attend should reserve their place.

At the event, she aims to help parents with children aged 10 and older learn more about knife crime so they can speak openly with their children about the dangers of carrying knives.

Organised as part of the community anti-violence campaign linked to the arrival of the Knife Angel in Nuneaton, the event offers the chance to hear Alison speak and raise questions of your own about this difficult topic.

Joshua, better known as Depzman to his fans, was a chart-topping rapper before his death 10 years ago.

Alison, who received the Stephen Sutton Award for inspirational endeavour at the 2015 Pride of Birmingham Awards, said:

“I think the issue of youth violence and knife violence is a tragedy in this country, and we all have a part to play to reduce it.

“I have a lot to share from my personal experience as a parent and it has been valuable to hear from other parents and for them to meet local services like the police and local council too, to know that they are not alone facing what can be a very worrying and frightening issue to discuss.”

Cllr Clare Golby, Deputy Leader at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and Chair of Nuneaton and Bedworth Safer Communities Partnership, said:

“At the opening event for our Knife Angel Project I spoke about how knife crime impacts entire families, not just the victim or perpetrators. Too many families are being devastated because of those who carry weapons.

“Alison has a very powerful message to share, and its one that everyone should hear. As a parent you never expect to lose your kids in such a tragic way. Everybody to listen to her story first hand and talk to their kids about it.

“Residents, both local and people from neighbouring communities, can hear how knife crime harms families and communities, and how we can all play our part to stop this happening.

“Alison’s powerful presentations convey the importance of prevention, the emotive realisation of how choices affect loved ones and how young people retain hope for the future.”

“Educating our kids about this now is one of the best ways we have of changing things in the future.”