Leeds United have teamed up with the father of murdered teenage footballer Kiyan Prince to tackle knife crime ahead of their clash with Queens Park Rangers.
It comes six months after Dr Mark Prince OBE’s half-time speech pleading for an end to youth killings was heckled by some Whites fans at QPR’s Loftus Road stadium.
The 55-year-old will be a guest at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon for the Championship return fixture and the West Yorkshire club is asking both sets of supporters to welcome him out onto the pitch.
Earlier this week, Leeds United Foundation held a Positive Choices session at a school in the city where Kiyan’s father spoke to 180 students in an attempt to steer them away from crime and gangs.
Mr Prince started a justice campaign after his son, 15 - who played for QPR’s youth team - was fatally stabbed trying to break up a fight outside his north London academy in May 2006.
Speaking after the event at Corpus Christi College, Mr Prince told LUTV: “I’ve come to share that powerful message and to let children know that hurting people, hurts people.
“That’s how all of this knife crime really begins, because people are hurting so they resort to taking up knives as a way of dealing with some of the conflicts that are going on in their mind.
“And then that ends up hurting other people. So I want them to focus on understanding and valuing their life, making the right choices.
“Different football clubs might be rivals when it comes to winning a game, but when it comes to achieving the goal of no knives on the streets and less violence on our streets, then everyone’s united.
“That’s like one football team and there isn’t anyone against each other in that concept.
“So I think this is a wonderful platform to use to bring a powerful message together.”
Amy Thompson, director of personal development at Corpus Christi, said: “We’ve been really blessed because we had Mark sharing his life story with our children and also telling us about the loss of his son.
“It was a very, very moving input, the children were so inspired by him and they were really engaged in his session.
“He talked about how the choices they make are going to impact on their futures and that they can be who they want to be. Our students have been coming up to me all day, and will now for the next few weeks, talking to me about ‘the seed’ and how they’re growing, because they are really inspired.
“We’ve been working with ‘Positive Choices’ and the Leeds United Foundation for about four years now, they’ve got a selection of speakers like Mark that come in and share their stories to make a difference to impact positively with our children. So we’d like to say a huge thank you to the team.”
🤍 "𝗛𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲"
— Leeds United (@LUFC) November 8, 2024
Partnering with our #LUFC Foundation, Dr Mark Prince OBE and @TheKPF delivered a powerful talk to 180 Corpus Christi students, about making positive choices in life pic.twitter.com/SIX3tXRL6r
Frances Milner, CEO of the Leeds United Foundation, said they were “delighted to be partnering” with Mr Prince who delivered “an incredibly powerful, thought-provoking” speech.
She added: “Mark’s talk brought to life the messages of the Leeds United Foundations Positive Choices programme.
“This is a programme that we run with schools across the region and seeks to inform, educate and empower students to make positive life decisions, when they’re facing tough choices in their lives.”
Dr Prince, a former IBF and WBO intercontinental boxing champion, has dedicated his life to empowering young people through The Kiyan Prince Foundation.
Three years ago, the Fifa 21 video game used AI technology to show Kiyan as a 30-year-old professional footballer, allowing gamers to play as him.
QPR listed him as a squad member on all matchday programmes, having already renamed their ground the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in 2019 for three seasons.
Donate to Dr Prince’s work by visiting: thekpf.com
