Asda partners with Sheffield school to launch campaign against knife crime in stores

Asda has announced it has partnered with Sheffield Park Academy to launch a new knife crime pilot campaign across 8 of its Sheffield stores.

The Safer Together: #AskNik campaign encourages young people to discreetly seek help from local businesses in Sheffield if they feel unsafe.

The #AskNik team work with local primary schools during community cohesion sessions to make key rings which they can then use if they need to use the code word in a shop.

The safety key fob contains a flashlight, a whistle and a tag that stores a phone number of a trusted adult.

If a young person doesn’t feel safe, they can pop into a participating Asda store near them and ‘Ask Nik’. Store colleagues will then provide assistance before contacting their trusted adult.

Pupils in Sheffield Park first presented the campaign to representatives from Asda as part of the school’s annual NextGenLeaders programme.

This is the fourth consecutive year Asda has supported NextGenLeaders, a program which aims to empower the next generation of leaders in schools across Yorkshire.

As part of the programme, school teams compete to deliver the most impactful projects over the course of an academic year.

Over 200 pupils from schools across Yorkshire gathered at Asda’s head office in Leeds to present their community projects aimed at transforming social and environmental issues.

Sheffield Park Academy won the competition this year and representatives from Asda were so impressed with the campaign that it was officially launched in 8 of their stores in Sheffield.

Students in the winning team were inspired to launch after witnessing the knife crime in person, with participating Asda stores now displaying signs to show their support for the campaign.

Keren Owheya, student at Sheffield Park Academy, said: “NextGen Leaders was an inspiring program to be a part of. Our program manager pushed us to think outside the box, teach us how to be positive influences and create leaders with critical mindsets. It prepared us to tackle future problems.

“I am very happy that I participated in this program. We would like to thank Asda for supporting us and helping us raise money to have a bleeding control kit at our school.”

Sheffield Park student Zain Meah added: “We chose to tackle these issues because knife crime is a growing concern in our area. We are so pleased that Asda have decided to promote our campaign as we now feel there is somewhere safe in an emergency.”

Asda has also supported the group through local fundraisers. The funds provided Bleed first aid kits to the local community and first aid training to young people so they know what to do if someone is a victim of knife crime.

Lyndsay Holland, Asda’s Early Career Program Manager, said: “The Ask for Nik campaign is an initiative that really resonated with us at Asda when the fantastic team at Sheffield Park introduced it to us. As soon as we heard the personal experiences of the young people involved in this campaign, we knew we had to get involved and play our part.

“We recognize how important campaigns like this can be and the significant role Asda can play in tackling this important issue. By rolling this out in our stores, we can ensure that this campaign also reaches more local communities so that more young people feel safe.”

Sally Duckering, senior manager for South Yorkshire at Asda, adds: “This is a fantastic campaign which has been embraced by the Sheffield stores piloting it. We’ve seen how effective campaigns like this can be as we continue the important work of keeping our communities safe.”

Full list of stores

• Handsworth
• Drakehouse
• Chaucer
• Catchbar
• Walkley
• Manor Top
• Wooden chairs
• Queens Road