A volunteer group that managed to take 19 blades off the streets this weekend alone is calling for council support.

Binning Knives Saves Lives is a campaign headed by people who give up their free time to talk to young people and their families about the dangers of carrying knives.

They take an amnesty box around the borough, and persuade young people to hand over knives they are carrying.

On Saturday May 18 alone the group collected 19 blades, ranging from small pocket knives to a machete-like blade.

The group believes it is doing valuable work, but is becoming frustrated by a lack of support from Waltham Forest Council.

Courtney Barratt, a member of the campaign, said: “I am wondering why we have had no help from Waltham Forest Council if they are backing new anti-knife crime organisations.

“We have surpassed other organisations in successfully getting through to parents and youths, making them aware of the dangers of owning and carrying knives. We take loads of knives off the streets of Waltham Forest with our Knife Amnesty Bin.

“We are inundated with other organisations and councils wanting us at their events because they have seen us on the news and see the good work we do and the success we have had.

“We have got this far totally unfunded, and I have paid for everything myself. Now my money has run out so we are extremely concerned that we will not be able to continue what we do for much longer.”

Courtney says the group only needs £800 per month to enable it to visit busy locations around the borough every week to take knives off the streets and educate the public.

The campaigner added: “We are doing amazing things for our borough, but we really need some help to continue this. If we had enough help we would be out every day but as it stands we may have to give up what we do because we have no cash left and we get no help from our council.

“We have had more of an effect than everyone else put together. We cover different angles, getting knives off the streets, mentoring youths and educating parents on how to make their family’s safer.”

Cllr Ahsan Khan, cabinet member for community safety, said: “We know that crime is the top priority for residents. We are determined to build neighbourhoods where all feel safe and welcome.

“Our approach to tackling knife crime is based on educating young people on the dangers of carrying a weapon, supporting them to develop the skills they need to avoid violent situations, and preventing gang involvement through family-focused programmes."

The cabinet member explained that the authority commissioned London South Bank University to research modern gangs and the result was a report titled 'From Post Codes to Profit'.

The authority then allocated £800,000, on top of the pre-existing £2.2 million already set aside, to fund a gang prevention programme over four years.

Cllr Khan added: "We can assist community groups in finding potential opportunities for funding by signposting them towards organisations such as the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund, and welcome applications from community groups to join the Waltham Forest Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) network.

“Knife amnesties on their own have not been shown to reduce violence. It is by working with a range of partners we can an implement a wide variety of tactics to disrupt the scourge of knife crime on our streets.”