Catastrophic Bleed Kits Installed at ALABARÉ Homes During Knife Crime Awareness Week
We're calling for more catastrophic bleed kits to be made publicly available across Wiltshire, as three of our homes in the county now have the life-saving equipment installed.
ALABARÉ is calling for more catastrophic bleed kits to be made publicly available across Wiltshire, as three of our homes in the county have the life-saving equipment installed.
Bleed kits, containing medical gauze, chest seals, a tourniquet and bandages, have been installed at some of the charity’s homelessness services in Salisbury and Chippenham, as well as its home for young people in Trowbridge.
It comes during Knife Crime Awareness Week (18-24 May 2026), and as others such as Wiltshire Councillors, the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner and Wiltshire 999s are also pushing to make the kits more readily available to save lives.
100 Bleed Kits to be Installed Across Wiltshire
ALABARÉ has welcomed Wiltshire Council’s decision this week (Tuesday 19 May) to provide funding for at least 100 kits to be installed in public places across the county, while Wiltshire Police is also pledging to maintain the equipment in the long-term.
Wiltshire has the second-lowest levels of knife crime in the country, with 264 knife and sharp weapon offences recorded last year.
As incidents with catastrophic bleeds can, and do, happen anywhere, ALABARÉ is strongly supportive of the plan to make the Wiltshire even safer.
Learning how to save lives
ALABARÉ’s colleagues have been given advice and training on how to use a bleed kit, thanks to the support of the Swindon charity, Change Lives, No to Knives.
They were set up following the death of Lee John Turner in 2021, to provide education on knife crime, preventing the possession of knives and increasing awareness and access to bleed kits to help save lives.
Lee’s sister, Jordan Turner, delivered the training and said it’s important they have the opportunity to spread their message throughout the community:
“I believe education and awareness are key, and the more people are educated on bleed control kits and how to use them, the better chance that someone will survive if they’re ever in that position.”
Jamie Coltman is a Complex Needs Service Lead at ALABARÉ Place, and found the training useful:
“I think it’s been really beneficial, not just to our clients and colleagues, but also to the community, as they’ll know that if an incident happens down the road, there’s a bleed kit here and that could potentially save a life.
“We’re not here to offer judgments; we’re here to support people, and this is another way that we help keep people safe.”
Change Lives, No to Knives has also offered to visit ALABARÉ’s drop-in services for homeless adults, to continue the dialogue around the consequences of carrying knives and provide education on using bleed kits in an emergency on the streets.
Community effort to raise awareness
The bleed kit installed at ALABARÉ’s Unity House in Chippenham has been funded through a campaign by the Wiltshire 999s news outlet, launched after the fatal stabbing of Shayne Hambakachere in the town in January this year.
Public fundraising has helped to source the kits for installation, with the kit handed over by Daniel Jae Webb from Wiltshire 999s this week.
Training is being provided to use the kit effectively by the team from the Owen’s World Foundation, formed in Swindon in memory of Owen Dunn, who died from a stab wound in 2022.
The charity has also provided a bleed kit to ALABARÉ’s young people service in Trowbridge, along with the necessary training.
Alex Cattelona, Head of Homelessness Services at ALABARÉ, has himself been a victim of knife crime in the past, and said:
“I’m fully supportive of having catastrophic bleed kits available in more public places. Anything we can have in our toolkit to save lives, protect our clients and colleagues, and provide reassurance can only be a good thing.
“It can also be a useful way of opening up a conversation about the knife crime issue as a whole, and perhaps preventing people from feeling they need to possess a weapon as a ‘just in case’. If there are fewer weapons on the streets, the risk that someone will be seriously hurt is lessened.”
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