A nation where young lives are built on steel, not destroyed by it.
Steel Warriors was founded in 2017 by Ben Wintour and Pia Fontes, moved by the staggering amount of knife steel collected by the police every month. They asked a simple question: what if a symbol of violence could become a symbol of strength?
The answer was material and symbolic. We melt down knives collected and surrendered from the streets and recycle the steel into free-to-use outdoor calisthenics gyms. The bars young people train on were once the blades taken off their streets.
What started with a single gym in Tower Hamlets is now six gyms, a weekly programme of free community classes, youth intervention work in schools, and a movement: a street workout family with strength at its centre.
Collaboration and united communities drive lasting change.
Kindness and respect toward all people, always.
Ambitious goals. Challenge every limit.
Excel at one thing before moving to the next.
Adaptable, and receptive to new perspectives.
The first gym. Knives off the street, steel into the ground.
South and North London join the movement.
A gym inside the prison walls. Strength as rehabilitation.
Newham gets its own steel.
Our newest gym, and we're just getting started. The mission: a UK-wide network.
Coaches, trustees and staff. The family behind the steel.
