Students call for bleed control training in Greater Manchester
- Featured image credit: Alice Haston
Students in Greater Manchester have called for mandatory bleeding control education in schools, in support of the Meros World Foundation.
A group of students at the Altrincham Grammar Schools for Girls started a Change.org petition to bring in mandatory bleeding control education in schools, in the hope that more education may save lives in the future.
Partnering with the charity First Give, the project encourages students to create projects to support charities of their choosing.
The students are aiming to raise £500 to buy a bleed control cabinet that will help stem wounds in the event of a stabbing.
They also plan to hold a week of fundraising events at their school where they will educate people on how to stem bleeds, with funds raised going towards both the bleed control cabinet and the Meros World Foundation.
Speaking to NQ, one of the students, Emma, said: “We think knife crime is a really serious issue and not much attention is being paid to it. With First Give we can support Meros World and raise awareness.”
“Knife crime is more common than we think”
Another student at the school, Kardawiyah, highlighted knife cime as a serious issue. “Knife crime is more common than we think,” she said.
“It can happen to anyone at any time, so we should always be prepared.”
The students hope their fundraising event will eventually turn into an annual Knife Crime Awareness Week – the first of its kind at the school.
Evie, who started the bleeding control education fundraiser, said: “[Bleed control training] should be a part of the school’s curriculum for all schools and taken to Parliament.”
Meros World Foundation
The Meros World Foundation was established by Kelly Brown, who lost her teenage son to knife crime.
Rhamero West, was 16 years old when he was chased by three men and stabbed after his first day of college in 2021.
The charity focusses on raising awareness of the dangers of knife crime, and currently is currently campaigning to install more bleed control cabinets around Manchester – including in schools.
So far they have installed 60 cabinets across the city, and are currently working towards making bleeding control training a mandatory part of first aid training in schools.
This year, Kelly visited parliament to share her story with MPs, and hopes that they will stick to their word and come forward with the help and support that they promised.
“It shouldn’t be taking a mum who has lost her son to be putting cabinets on every street corner,” she said. “The council should be stepping up and dipping into their funding to help support us with this.
“Knife crime isn’t going away anytime soon, which is really sad to see.”
Kelly believes every child in school should know how to stem a bleed, in the hope they will know how to save someone’s life in a stabbing.
Kelly said she was proud to hear about the work the girls are doing in supporting her foundation, and that the passion the students showed in bringing change was something more people should get on board with.
“People don’t wake up to see how important knife crime is until it’s too late or it’s happened to them, and the more we pull together as a community to unite, the more powerful we are at preventing it,” she said.
“Prevention is better than cure.”
She stressed that the bleed control cabinets would not only help save stab victims, but could also be used to save the lives of car crash victims.
Kelly has also given talks at various primary schools – with knife crime affecting younger and younger people, she believes that speaking to people at a younger age may help prevent future incidents.
“If I can change one person’s mindset, I’m doing something right,” she said.
The Foundation set up a Youth Club in Fallowfield in 2022 to give local children a safe place to socialise and be themselves.
In the long term, she said she would like the Foundation to have their own building with counsellors and mentors, and to see it expanded into a safe space for children and families to go to.