The mother of Harvey Willgoose has welcomed a government promise to look at making it easier for schools to work with anti-knife crime campaigns, after she said some academies had resisted taking part in awareness work. Harvey, 15, was fatally stabbed at his Sheffield school in February 2025, and his mother Caroline has since campaigned for stronger knife safety measures and more open discussion in schools. The issue matters because ministers are signalling that concerns about school reputation should not stop schools from addressing knife crime prevention.

Caroline said many academies had declined to join a BBC Radio Sheffield anti-knife crime school tour due to fears about how it might affect their image. Policing minister Sarah Jones said schools "must" engage with the issue and promised to raise barriers with the education minister, arguing that even saving one life would make such conversations worthwhile. The planned September tour will feature Caroline, presenter Ellie Colton, interviews with Harvey’s friends and messages from South Yorkshire Police, while a May 2026 independent review had already found serious safeguarding failings at Harvey’s school, leading to a formal Department for Education notice to improve.