Enfield Resident Shares his Story of Survival and Redemption With CONEL Students

In July 2011 Amani Simpson was stabbed seven times during a frenzied attack by a group of around 20 men in Enfield. Miraculously, Amani – a former pupil of Enfield Grammar School and The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London – survived and has since dedicated himself to speaking in schools and colleges, to try to steer young people away from the violence and danger of knife crime.

Earlier this month, Amani visited CONEL’s Tottenham centre to deliver a powerful session and Q&A to our students. The event also featured a showing of a short film about his stabbing, called Amani, made with his friend, the actor Joivan Wade, which to date has had over 1.6 million views on YouTube.

The talk offered an opportunity for CONEL students to meet Amani and hear his story. It also enabled a free and open discussion about the students’ lives and the challenges that they and their communities face every day.

As Amani told us: “I put my story into a film to empower the conversation about knife crime. I want to extend the film to go into more detail to explain the stories of others and how it effects the wider community.”

When asked about his visit to the college, Amani told us: “It was an honour to come to CONEL. I know a lot of people who went here and are from Tottenham. It is good to give back to the community.”

Anthony Robinson, CONEL’s Quality & Learner Experience Manager said: “Knife crime is constantly in the news and it’s particularly prevalent in London compared to other parts of the country. Young black and minority ethnic teenage boys and men are disproportionately affected by knife crime – as both victims and perpetrators – and Amani’s visit is part of a programme of events partly funded by the Mayor of London’s Young Londoners Fund that we are holding to help divert young people away from criminal activities and support them to make better choices in their lives.” 

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