READING’s Armoured Heart sculpture gets international audience as Commonwealth nations head to Reading for annual youth conference.

Commonwealth visitors attended the 4th Commonwealth Conference on Youth Work held at the University of Reading from July 10 to 12.

Youth work practitioners, academics and policymakers from across the Commonwealth visited the Armoured Heart sculpture which was create using blades handed in to knife amnesty bins across Thames Valley.

The group learned about the dangers of knife crime with speeches about the vision behind the Armoured Heart and its message to counter knife crime.

Partners responsible for the creation of the Amnesty Art project - including Reading Borough Council, the Violence Reduction Unit, Thames Valley Police, The Oracle shopping centre, the University of Reading and Berkshire Community Foundation – were all on hand to greet the delegation of young people and youth workers from across the Commonwealth.

Head of workforce and professional development at the National Youth Agency, Kevin Jones, said it is “humbling” to see the Armoured Heart.

He said: “It is humbling to see the Armoured Heart and learn how local communities and young people are being engaged in finding solutions to foster greater understanding and making safer choices.

“Youth work, at its heart, is about enabling young people to have a voice in their communities and be engaged in decision-making about the issues that matter to them.”

The unveiling of the Armoured Heart sculpture in May was the launchpad for a programme of outreach work to help educate Reading’s young people about knife crime and encourage them to make the right choices around knives.