THEY will not know how many knives have been dropped in the bin until the police unlock it in a month’s time, says the Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Priest-in-Charge of St John’s, Angell Town. It is a tough area of Southwark diocese, and theirs is one of five such bins (two are in Islington, in north London, and the rest are in the south).

Dr Mallett tells me the decision to have such a bin was made after a day when she received a dozen calls telling her that the church had been cordoned off by the police. She went to investigate, and learned that there had been a stabbing on the nearby estate. The trail of blood led past the church and past the vicarage door.

She got in touch with Word 4 Weapons, a charity that works with churches, the community, and local authorities to try to reduce knife crime and save young people’s lives. The Knife Bin Project is a church-based initiative to allow people to dispose of dangerous knives safely and, if they want it, to receive in exchange an “All I need” pack containing a Bible, gifts, and information on how to leave a life of crime.

It was decided to place the Angell Town bin outside St John’s, as it is just off the main road to Brixton. The Archdeacon of Lambeth, the Ven. Christopher Skilton (above, right), came to dedicate it, together with Mike Smith (above, left), the founder of Word 4 Weapons. Mr Smith was delighted that when the bin was opened, immediately after the launch, he found that someone had already dropped a knife into it.