Residents march against knife crime (From Harrow Times)

I was very saddened that the Peace Rally in Hyde Park clashed with the anti-knife and gun march that also took place last Saturday in Brent. I was further saddened to learn that Olympic gold medal winner, James Degalle the boxer from Harlesden attended the Peace Rally in Hyde Park and not the one from his home town. It would be interesting to know, if he knew about it and what efforts were made by Brent Council to secure his appearance and persuade him that charity begins at home ? But at least he attended one of the marches. I was very pleased to see our new Assembly Member from Brent and Harrow attend, Cllr Navin Shah along with Britain's first black female minister, our very own Dawn Butler MP who led the march in Brent. I believe I am right when I say, I don't think Cllr Shah's predecessor, Cllr Bob Blackman has ever attended the annual Not Another Drop march, and both he and other Brent figures were conspicuous by their absence, which is quite shocking. It would have been nice to see Brent Council's Chief Executive, Gareth Daniel lead the march with Dawn Butler and other Brent officials. Only when our leaders, all community figures and all Cllr's attend, is our call for others to attend strengthened. They must all lead by example and until they do so, the profile of Not Another Drop will sadly remain quite low until everyone demonstrates an act of solidarity all year round, not just one day of the year. Gareth Daniel was recently reported saying and I quote, "when I walk out of the Town Hall I am done". Unfortunately for many residents and those who have lost their loved ones to gun and knife crime our work is never done and we never have that privilege of closing the door when we leave Brent at night. Gareth Daniel should have chosen his words very carefully, particularly as the local media, the Leader of the Council and the organisers of Not Another Drop were calling for everyone to join in the march from start to end. It is precisely this unhelpful attitude that hinders the work of those who wish to bring peace to our Borough and whose work is never done and it was a very irresponsible thing to say as Chief Executive of the largest multi-cultural Borough in Europe, which sadly continues to be dogged by gun and knife crime.

As for the numbers (turn out) they still remain relatively low and the reaction from shoppers and passers by are still very reserved. They tend to gawp at us - as if we were not part of the community and a minority protesting, which they looked rather embarrassingly at us. For example, no rounds of applause as we marched by. Just starry and gloomy faces. All this needs to change. Maybe the organisers need to get a dancing type carnival band - leading with children dancing and playing instruments to attract smiles from peoples faces as we march by. But one thing is for sure – unite we must, if we are ever to sing from the same hymn sheet to ensure we never see another drop of blood on our streets.

Rocky Fernandez

Chairman

Kensal Green Community Safety Forum