The Home Office is funding eight anonymous knife surrender bins across South and West Yorkshire, managed by the charity Word 4 Weapons, to help remove weapons from communities. Caroline Willgoose, whose 15-year-old son Harvey was fatally stabbed at a Sheffield school in February 2025, welcomed the move as a step toward a positive legacy. The bins will be located at fire stations and civic sites across Barnsley, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Halifax, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield and Wakefield. Officials say the scheme supports a wider plan to halve knife crime over the next decade and follow more than 14,500 items surrendered since July 2025.
Mother of Murdered Teen Welcomes Eight Knife Surrender Bins Across South and West Yorkshire
All kinds of knives can be disposed of in the bins [BBC]
Eight new anonymous knife surrender bins are being installed across towns and cities in South and West Yorkshire as part of a Home Office-funded drive to remove weapons from the streets and make communities safer.
The new containers, managed by the charity Word 4 Weapons, will be placed at fire stations and civic sites across Barnsley, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Halifax, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield and Wakefield. They allow people to dispose of knives and other dangerous items anonymously.
Caroline Willgoose, whose 15-year-old son Harvey was stabbed to death at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield in February 2025, welcomed the roll-out. She said: "With the new surrender bins being installed in Yorkshire, this is just a further step on the road to a positive future. I feel like that's leaving a legacy for our Harvey — he's being talked about and they're taking it seriously now."
Harvey died after being stabbed through the heart with a hunting knife by another pupil, also aged 15. Caroline added: "The ripple effect of how many people this has devastated — losing Harvey — all of Sheffield I feel was in mourning and still are. It's horrific what happened and it cannot happen again."
Where the Bins Will Be Located
- South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Fire Station, Broadway, Barnsley
- SYFRS Fire Station, Leicester Avenue, Doncaster
- SYFRS Fire Station, Fitzwilliam Road, Eastwood, Rotherham
- SYFRS Fire Station, Lowedges Road, Sheffield
- Wade Street, Halifax
- Dewsbury Town Hall
- John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds
- Eastmoor Bus Terminus, Windhill Road, Eastmoor, Wakefield
All types of knives can be surrendered in the bins. The Home Office says the initiative forms part of a broader strategy to prevent weapons reaching the streets and to halve knife crime within the next decade. Similar surrender schemes are already operating in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and London.
The Home Office added that more than 14,500 weapons had been handed in to government-backed amnesty bins since July 2025. Policing and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said: "Every dangerous weapon that has been surrendered so far is a weapon off our streets and a community made that little bit safer. Knife crime is down by 11% since the general election but we will not stop until we meet our commitment of halving knife crime in a decade."
Separately, the pupil convicted of murdering Harvey has been sentenced to at least 16 years in custody. Campaigners and families affected by knife violence say the new bins are a practical, immediate step, while continued prevention work and investment in youth services remain crucial to long-term change.
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