School Shirts Art Exhibition Highlights Problem of Knife Crime in Bristol

Knife Crime Awareness Week runs from 19 to 25 May and is an annual campaign by the Ben Kinsella Trust. (University of Bristol)
Knife Crime Awareness Week runs from 19 to 25 May and is an annual campaign by the Ben Kinsella Trust. (University of Bristol)
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School Shirts Art Exhibition Highlights Problem of Knife Crime in Bristol

Knife Crime Awareness Week runs from 19 to 25 May and is an annual campaign by the Ben Kinsella Trust. (University of Bristol)
Knife Crime Awareness Week runs from 19 to 25 May and is an annual campaign by the Ben Kinsella Trust. (University of Bristol)

An art exhibition showcasing school shirts emblazoned with anti-knife crime messages will go on display as part of Knife Crime Awareness Week, a BBC report said on Tuesday.

Created by young people in Bristol, the exhibition will be held at the Lord Mayor's Chapel on College Green, Bristol, from May 19 to 25.

In the “Empty Shirts, Lost Childhoods” project, participants aged 13 to 25 were invited to decorate plain white school shirts with poetry, slogans, artwork, and memorials that reflect their feelings and experiences of knife crime.

The University of Bristol's Dr. Jade Levell, who led the project, said the exhibition “shines an important light” on young people.

Knife Crime Awareness Week, which runs from May 19 to 25, is an annual campaign by the Ben Kinsella Trust that aims to raise awareness of knife crime's devastating effects and promote preventative solutions.

Levell said: “Writing on school shirts is a rite of passage for many young people as they graduate from formal education.”

“Children involved in youth violence often miss out on this milestone, due to being excluded from school, victims of violence, or perpetrators in custody,” she added.

The project represents the culmination of a unique creative project spearheaded by the University of Bristol in collaboration with local schools and youth organizations.

It also invites community members to respond by contributing to a “community manifesto” that will be shared with the Bristol City Council and other partners to inform future youth violence prevention strategies.

Duncan Stanway, assistant director at Barnardo's, said: “It is important that we listen to what young people who are affected by violence say about their lives.”

He added: “We see too many young people who are seriously harmed through exploitation and violence.”

The initiative is part of a broader citywide effort, led by the Bristol City Office, to address serious youth violence through collaboration between community groups, academics, police, and public health bodies.

Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody praised the initiative, saying: “It powerfully captures the voices and experiences of young people affected by violence.”



Bull Sharks Linger in Warming Sydney Waters

A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
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Bull Sharks Linger in Warming Sydney Waters

A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

Bull sharks are lingering off Sydney's beaches for longer periods each year as oceans warm, researchers said Friday, predicting they may one day stay all year.

The predators are migratory, swimming north in winter when Sydney's long-term ocean temperatures dip below 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) to bask in the balmier waters off Queensland.

A team of scientists looked at 15 years of acoustic tracking of 92 tagged migratory sharks in an area including Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbour.

Records show the sharks now spend an average of 15 days longer off Sydney's coast in summer than they did in 2009, said James Cook University researcher Nicolas Lubitz.

"If they're staying longer, it means that people and prey animals have a longer window of overlap with them."

Shark attacks are rare in ocean-loving Australia, and most serious bites are from three species: bull sharks, great whites, and tiger sharks, according to a national database.

There have been more than 1,200 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which over 250 resulted in death.

Researchers found an average warming of 0.57C in Bondi for the October-May period between 2006 and 2024, said the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of The Total Environment.

Over a longer period, remotely sensed summer sea-surface temperatures in the area rose an average 0.67C between 1982 and 2024, they said.

"If this trend persists, which it likely will, it just means that these animals are going to spend more and more time towards their seasonal distributional limit, which currently is southern and central New South Wales," Lubitz said.

"So it could be that a few decades from now, maybe bull sharks are present year-round in waters off Sydney," he added.

"While the chances of a shark bite, and shark bites in Australia in general, remain low, it just means that people have to be more aware of an increased window of bull shark presence in coastal waters off Sydney."

Climate change could also change breeding patterns, Lubitz said, with early evidence indicating juvenile sharks were appearing in rivers further south.

There was some evidence as well that summer habitats for great whites, which prefer colder waters, were decreasing in northern New South Wales and Queensland, he said.

Tagged sharks trigger an alarm when they swim within range of a network of receivers dotted around parts of the Australian coast, giving people real-time warnings on a mobile app of their presence at key locations.