The Mall, Wood Green, has chosen the Godwin Lawson Foundation (GLF) as its Charity of the Year 2019.

The charity, which is based in North London, was established in 2012 by Yvonne Lawson to celebrate the life of her son, Godwin, who was fatally stabbed in March 2010 as part of an unprovoked attack.

Reducing gun and knife crime, which is so prevalent across London, is the GLF’s main aim. By providing positive initiatives to build self-confidence and self-esteem through a preventative programme of early intervention, the charity has already seen fantastic results.

Working alongside local schools, youth clubs and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, the GLF’s unique programme identifies youngsters most at risk and offers them sporting and mentoring opportunities and a weekend residential away from the city. It also encourages youngsters to become Peace Ambassadors and provide real life advice, guidance and support for others.

The charity also works closely with the local council, Home Office and the Metropolitan Police to shape policy and eradicate knife crime.

Samantha Davidson, General Manager for The Mall, Wood Green, explains why the shopping centre chose to support the GLF this year: “We thought that the GLF was such a relevant charity, given the number of knife crime incidents that have occurred in London and specifically in this area of North London.

“The Foundation aims to restore hope, optimism and self-esteem to youths aged between 11 and 19 and I think this is a fantastic approach to helping prevent young people becoming involved in activities which can lead to knife crime. Godwin’s mother is a driving force of the charity and you can see the passion she has, having lost her son in terrible circumstances. We would like to work with GLF to help raise awareness of the charity and raise funds to enable it carry on its good work.”

Talking about its new partnership with The Mall, the GLF’s founder and CEO, Yvonne Laswon said: “We are really excited to be working with The Mall. There are very few safe places for youngsters to go in Wood Green and Tottenham but The Mall is definitely one of them. Together we can work on creating other safe places and spreading the word about the dangers of knife crime. We are delighted to be able to use the wider platform offered by the shopping centre to change mindsets and ultimately, lives.”

Gwendolyne Lobo, Marketing Manager for The Mall added: “By using our space, resources and audience, we feel that we can make a huge difference to the charity. As well as fundraising throughout the year, we are currently planning a number of targeted events and initiatives to raise the charity’s profile and celebrate the young people in our area. We want to encourage the wider community to take a stand against knife crime and become a peace ambassador. This will be our message throughout the year.”