In some families, the inheritance isn’t money… It’s a knife. A baton of survival, passed silently from one generation to the next. On streets like Church Road, among communities of colour, that baton became a legacy.
The truth for many young black boys is that the knife isn’t about power; it’s about protection, identity, or simply being seen. As Akala argues, violence amongst youth is less about melanin and more about poverty, exclusion, and the collapse of opportunity. “If I’m a 15-year-old and I am in such a low place emotionally, do you think the threat of 10 years in jail is going to stop me?” he once asked (Akala, 2019). The danger isn’t the knife itself… It’s the hopelessness that makes it feel like the only option
But this baton doesn’t exist in a vacuum: it grows in the cracks left when the community support disappears. The recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that between 2010 and 2019, roughly 30% of youth clubs in London shut their doors. Teens who lost access to a nearby youth club performed nearly 4% worse in GCSEs (Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2023). For those from low-income backgrounds, the drop was even steeper, and they were 14% more likely to engage in crime. Those cuts didn’t just shrink budgets; they shrank futures.
And yet, where support does remain, its impact is undeniable. The Guardian reports on a youth-led mentoring project that has become a lifeline for young Londoners, offering structure, emotional support, a sense of belonging, and protection from the pull of gang life (Townsend, 2023). Programs like this demonstrate what communities can achieve when they’re given room to breathe, rather than being stripped bare.
Youth clubs and grassroots projects aren’t luxuries. They are safety nets, breathing spaces, alternatives. When they vanish, the streets become classrooms, and knives become tools of belonging, reputation, and survival.
On Church Road, the streets raise you long before your family can. Names echo across estates. Not just boys, but legends, ghosts, warnings. The church road gang has shaped generations of young people in NW10, drawing them in with the promise of belonging, protection and respect.
It’s always easier to enter than to leave. The streets open their arms without paperwork, qualifications, or judgment. Leaving requires rebuilding a life that never had stable foundations in the first place. A child with nothing to lose cannot be scared into choosing peace. When society has already made you invisible, the gang becomes the only place that sees you.
Knife crime becomes a cycle not because young people want violence, but because they inherit it. A generational curse thrives when the environment remains unchanged. If your brother carried the knife, if your cousin joined a gang, if your family has already survived the consequences, the baton is placed in your hand before you even understand the weight of it. Protection becomes a habit. Pain becomes heritage.
And once you’re in, you carry the fear of leaving: retaliation, loneliness, the loss of belonging. Escape feels like stepping into a world that never had space for you. But the cycle isn’t inevitable. When youth spaces return, when communities are funded, when opportunities outweigh dangers. The baton can finally fall from someone’s hand.
The knife can stop being passed.
References
Akala (2019) Akala: ‘If I’m in such a low place emotionally… do you think the threat of jail is going to stop me?’ London Evening Standard, 28 March. Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/akala-rapper-gang-violence-london-a4098696.html (Accessed: 1 December 2025).
Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report:
Institute for Fiscal Studies (2023) How cuts to youth clubs affected teen crime and education. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/how-cuts-youth-clubs-affected-teen-crime-and-education (Accessed: 1 December 2025).
The Guardian (Stonebridge Estate project):
Townsend, M. (2023) ‘The lifeline helping young Londoners on the Stonebridge estates’, The Guardian, 11 November. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/11/lifeline-young-london-stonebridge-estates (Accessed: 1 December 2025).
Arika Heaven