A visit to the Royal Palace to discuss knife crime

2XH70TX

A young person who is now a coach at Empire Fighting Chance paid a visit to the Royal Palace to meet the King.

But not just the King, also the new Prime Minister Kier Starmer and his Government Cabinet, and famous actor and anti-knife crime campaigner Idris Elba.

This was for a convened round table conversation in the capital city of London, on how to decrease youth violence in the country.


Serena Wiebe paid a visit to the Royal Palace to talk about knife crime

Her name is Serena Wiebe.

Serena came to Empire after receiving bereavement counselling, and was referred to one of our non-contact boxing programmes. Her involvement proved to be a huge success and she claims that Empire supported her to the place she is in today, where she now coaches for the charity.

She has an acute understanding of issues affecting young people, in particular around youth violence, and was close friends with a young person called Eddie that tragically died from knife crime just over a year ago. 

On her return from the Royal Palace, we sat down for a chat about her experience and reflections of her time there.

Who did you meet and why?

I met Idris Elba, the King, our new Prime Minister, our new MP Kerry McCarthy and people from other organisations that were there too.

They seem very cool to be honest. The impression I got from what they were saying was pure. Honest.

What did you talk about?

We were all discussing what needs to be done to try and prevent knife crime. Different young people spoke about their experiences.

I spoke about growing up in Bristol and how Empire Fighting Change steered me into the right direction when living in a city with a lack of opportunity for young people. I also spoke about my experiences of losing close friends to knife crime and how it’s being desensitised. 


Serena talking at the Royal Palace sat next to Idris Elba and King Charles.

I also told my story about how and why I ended up being sent to Empire, after getting caught up in some issues, and made suggestions on how we can try and support and prevent this for other young people like me in the future. 

It was good to be able to tell this story directly to King, Idris our new MP, and am very thankful for the opportunity.

How did it feel? Were you nervous or did you feel confident?

I felt very nervous but put on a front on to appear confident. I wanted to be heard and take this opportunity to make a change. But it was a dream to meet such amazing people honestly. It’s something I will always remember.

Did it go down well?

It went very well, I think. They were all listening to me closely.  Idris was cool, and we had a photo and he even gifted me an Arsenal shirt with Saka on!

Serena with actor Idris Elba after the meeting. Idris leads an anti-knife crime campaign called 'Don't Stop Your Future.'

What do you think the event achieved?

Everyone got an opportunity to listen to what us young people have to say about what’s going on and how we can make a change. It’s a good thing for them to hear it direct from us.

What do you feel you achieved?

I mean I have already achieved it, speaking in front of them all. To be honest, it was a privilege to be able to speak up about issues that all young people are facing, obviously being a young person myself. I enjoyed it.

Read more about the work Empire Fighting Chance are doing to tackle knife crime  here.