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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

New anti-knife website launched to stem rise in UK stabbings

WORKING to reverse a new rise in knife crime announced this week, a campaigning British mum is stepping up her hard-hitting national campaign against violence in the UK.

Set up in memory of her much-loved teenage son Chris Cave, Theresa Cave has launched a new website built by leading international digital marketing consultancy White Hat Media. 

Brighton-based White Hat Media has designed, developed and built the fresh new online platform for The Chris Cave Foundation (http://www.thechriscavefoundation.org), with funding from the National Lottery.

Chris was stabbed to death by a violent gang leader when he was 17 years old. Since then, his mum Theresa has not rested to communicate a relentless and uncompromising anti-violence message to the world.

The mobile-friendly website is another step to better reach more people across the world to try to stop violence and killings. The new site now hosts a range of modern online features and information, including:
  • Weapons-related education via the POINT7 anti-knife crime project
  • Memorial zone for the families and friends of victims
  • Discussion forum for people affected by knife and other violent crimes
  • Donations section to contribute to the Foundation's campaigning work
Chris Cave knife crime victime
Chris Cave (17), knife victim
Sporting a contemporary look, the site is planned to act as a key information hub on news and facts relating to knife and other violent crime across Britain while also providing a place for those who have been directly affected to come together and discuss experiences.

The Foundation, an evolution of the Mothers for Justice group, was founded by Theresa Cave, after her son's killing on June 5, 2003, in Redcar, a coastal town in the north east of England. 

Chris's foundation is primarily a legacy to young people, aiming to educate and inform with the main aim to eliminate violent crimes.

Theresa's awareness and education work, via face-to-face training and also online using social media and her son’s website, continues to gather support across the UK as well as her home region in the north east of England.

Announcing the new site's launch, Theresa said: "It is important to maintain a high level of knife and violent crime awareness in the country and to provide education, especially for young people, to try to stop the stabbings and other attacks that happen too often.

"I lost my son to knife crime and I won't stop working to get out the message that violence isn't the answer. People must stop and think – and simply not use their fists, knives or any other weapons.

“To hear knife crime is rising means it is more important than ever to focus on hard-hitting messages and education to try to change hearts and minds of those who decide to use violence and carry weapons that can kill.”

She continued: "The new website set up in Chris's memory is a very effective way to communicate about this work and I'm very grateful to White Hat Media for their excellent work putting it together and for the financial support from the National Lottery."

Theresa approached Mark Chapman, Client Strategy and Services Director at White Hat Media, to build the website after they had met online many years ago, sharing tragic experiences as well as a similar desire and drive to stop knife crime and other violence.

Mark set up his own UK knife crime blog (just type in 'knife crime blog' on Google to find it) after he and his family were caught up in a stabbing during a Saturday lunchtime party at a McDonald’s restaurant in Chichester, West Sussex, in 2005. He went to try to save a supervisor who, tragically, had been fatally injured.

Mark said: "Theresa has made huge progress to drive home a powerful, educative message designed to persuade those prone to violence, especially young people, to become more peaceful. By building a new website in Chris's memory, White Hat wanted to show their support for his mum's tireless campaigning."

Kevin Elliott, Operations Director at White Hat Media – whose design and technical team developed the website using the content management system Drupal – said: "We are delighted that Theresa and her family now have a fully-optimised online platform to publicise this important issue. Using the content management system Drupal, we have been able to create an intelligent mobile responsive site that is also social media-friendly."

Further information, interviews, quotes, online marketing and website case studies are available on request. Contact: Gemma Nash, Content & Social Media Executive, telephone: 08455 440223 Email: gemma.nash@whitehatmedia.com