Former gang member awarded an MBE by King Charles after becoming anti-knife crime campaigner

A former gang member has spoken to GB News after being awarded an MBE for his work and protection of young people engaging in knife crime.

Carl Scott has been honoured in the King's 2026 Birthday Honours after helping to steer young Britons away from violent crime and better understand the risks of carrying knives.

Speaking to GB News Breakfast, the founder of Project Youth spoke of his work to educate young people on the dangers of knife crime, becoming the first campaigner to install life-saving bleed kits across the country.

Recalling his past criminal life, Mr Scott told GB News of how he joined the gang lifestyle at age 12 and was stabbed at 15.

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Mr Scott recalled: "It just became the norm. Friends just became family, and I just kind of found my love in the streets, really.

"I was stabbed by 15, and then my best friend passed away in my arms from a stab wound to the heart, so I'd already had quite a experience with knife crime at that point."

Asked by host Anne Diamond what "turned his life around", Mr Scott admitted he had "had enough" of the dangerous lifestyle.

He admitted: "It took a lot for me to get out of it; it's all I knew, I was entrenched in that lifestyle. But I'd had kids and I think the worrying of who's going to come through your door and, every time you leave the house, is it going to be the last time you leave?

"Every time you go down the street, you hear a motorbike coming along and you're paranoid all the time. So my life now is a lot better, obviously."

Detailing the work he does to educate children on knife crime, Mr Scott said he is teaching children as "young as eight" about the danger of carrying knives.

He said: "The honour kind of gives m that credibility, so when I'm doing bookings and going into schools, doing public speaking or speaking to professionals and training social services, I teach them about county lines, gangs, exploitation, grooming, how it happens.

"I do role plays with kids, how to divert themselves away from it in a safer way, because they used to do 'just say no' back in the day, that's dangerous. So it's not about just say no, it's about coming up with different excuses."

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Mr Scott has also campaigned to have bleed control kits installed across the country, becoming the first campaigner to implement kits in Sussex.

Telling the People's Channel how his kits have saved multiple lives, he said: "I've got many across London and Sussex.

"I was the first to do it in Sussex. Of the four cabinets that I've had in London, two of them have been used in save three people.

"So I think that they are vital to have in the community and on your high street."

However, Mr Scott stressed education is "so important" in both knife crime and the ability to use the kits.

After demonstrating the different elements of the kit, Mr Scott told Britain's News Channel: "Education is important; education is key. A lot of us that go out doing this stuff with knife crime... we talk about education, the impact and the devastation it actually has.

"So many campaigners say the same things, and they've all lost somebody, so I think it's not just me that goes and does this.

"I'm lucky that I have been recognised, but many other people have also."

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