EMERGENCY services and school bosses worked together to deliver a hard-hitting look at crime.

Plume Academy, in Maldon, welcomed the Only Cowards Carry initiative with Essex Police for the past few weeks.

The charity is raising youngsters’ awareness of the dangers of carrying and threatening to use knives against others or to commit a crime.

School personal development leader Ash Stoneman said: “The charity has provided two very experienced and highly trained speakers who have subsequently delivered workshops to all the students of Years 8 and 9 within their personal development lessons.

“The workshops have provided an interactive and hard-hitting opportunity for students to engage, interact with and develop a wider understanding of the threats relating to carrying knives and weapons in our local community.

“The workshops have also used real-life videos and images that in turn have enabled students to visualise the impact that these weapons can have on them and others.

“The impact, facts, statistics and information used in the workshops will have hopefully enabled students to experience a graphic but bespoke learning experience that will have allowed them to understand the very serious risks these weapons can have in both the short as well as the long term.”

Alter Ego Productions also attended the school to put on stage a production about so-called county line drug operations, which target children.

School principal Carl Wakefield said: “The production aims to develop and raise awareness of child criminal exploitation, specifically the strand of the county lines drug trafficking model that sees vulnerable adults and young people targeted by organised groups and gangs to groom, trick, trap and manipulate them into trafficking drugs and in some cases weapons.

“In addition to the students’ production, Plume Academy hosted over 100 primary school staff from the local area to witness one of the performances from Alter Ego.

“Funded and supported by the Maldon Youth Strategy Group and Blackwater Primary Schools Partnership, the production has given the students and staff of Plume Academy the unique opportunity to learn from a real-life story that was recreated following months of research and engagement from the people that were impacted.

“With the main characters being just 15 years of age, it provided an invaluable insight into the dangers and threats that are present and real within the community.”