Catastrophic Bleed Kits Installed at ALABARÉ Homes During Knife Crime Awareness Week

Homelessness charity ALABARÉ is calling for more catastrophic bleed kits to be made publicly available across the county, as three of their homes 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 other organisations such as Wiltshire Councillors and the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner are also pushing to make the kits more readily available to save lives.

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.

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.

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, and I’m pleased to see some of ALABARÉ’s busiest locations having them on site. 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.”