'Carrying a knife is normal for a lot of people'

Families of victims of knife crime have come together to demand that more is done to combat it.

Eden Hollis, whose 23-year-old partner Lloyd Donkin died after being stabbed in Stockton in the summer of 2024, joined others who had lost loved ones at a meeting.

She said she felt carrying a knife was "normal for a lot of people" who were scared for their own safety.

The government has said it is taking action and will "not stop until serious violence is driven out of our communities".

Speaking at the meeting at Grangefield Community Centre, Hollis said: "I feel like the violence of these crimes is just getting worse and I just don't know where it's going to end up, where our kids are going to end up if we don't intervene."

She described her late partner as "the absolute life and soul of the party".

"He was everybody's friend," she said. "He was an amazing dad to my kids."

Hollis said Donkin, who was "anti weapon", had suffered with his ADHD and struggled to fit in.

"A lot of the young lads feel the pressure if they don't carry [a knife], are they going to get killed by somebody that is carrying? And I think that's where our problem lies," she said.

Hollis said the families who attended the meeting on Wednesday wanted to raise "awareness and as much community engagement as possible".

She said she had been "fighting" for change since her partner's death but "nobody's listening".

Hollis, who runs anti-knife crime campaigns, said she felt "the ripple effect" of broken homes, neglected childhoods in the area and rap lyrics promoting violence were contributing to the problem.

Adam Mackintosh, 28, from Thornaby, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2024 after being found guilty of the 23-year-old's manslaughter.

Hollis said her family felt they had "got the life sentence".

"They [the perpetrator] took away my whole life. They took away my children's life, our stability," she added.

She said the family had set up a fund in her partner's memory, which had raised more than £4,000 to support people and raise awareness in schools.

"We need to come together as a community and do something about it," she said.

In December, the government said it was "driving an ambitious mission" to cut knife crime by half within the next decade.

It said more than 50 Young Futures Panel pilots had gone live, bringing together police, social care, education, and youth services to spot and support children at risk of committing crime.

Policing Minister Sarah Jones said: "We have turned rising knife crime into falling knife crime, and we will not stop until serious violence is driven out of our communities and every young person has the chance of a safer future."

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