Children to learn how to defend themselves

MUM'S CHARITY SET UP AFTER HER OWN SON WAS ROBBED AT KNIFEPOINT

- JAMES CARTLEDGE

A CHARITY set up by a mum after her son was robbed at knifepoint is offering self-defence classes to Birmingham school pupils.

Birmingham Says No to Knife Crime and Youth Violence was set up by Rachel Warren with former Benefits Street star Dee Kelly in 2019 after Ms Warren's son was confronted by armed assailants.

The charity operates from a community centre in Handsworth, where six-time world kickboxing champion Waine Turner will run the self-defence courses for pupils from the nearby Saint John Wall Secondary School.

The classes are being funded by a £10,000 grant from the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership, which has also enabled the group to trial an after-school youth hub with the youth-led My Tomorrow campaign.