Research by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), published in November, showed that young people were most likely to get stabbed on the way home from school or college.

Earlier this month, a young person was stabbed outside Havering College in north-east London. In January, a student was stabbed to death outside Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College in Birmingham.

London South East Colleges, which has campuses in Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich, decided to take action after seeing the research from the BMJ. It now offers free early evening activities is to prevent all of its students hitting the streets at the same time between 4pm and 7pm “when too often young people become more involved in knife-related incidents”.

Read more: Government to ban knives in FE colleges

More news: Doubling of police in London schools

Background: American teachers’ advice for British schools 

The ‘Twilight College’

The project has been named the ‘Twilight College’ and offers a full range of activities for young students to take part in after college lessons have finished. These include a variety of activities including yoga, boxing, dance, music production, football, singing or songwriting and circuit training.

Sam Parrett, principal and chief executive at London South East Colleges, says organising engaging activities for students at this crucial time helps to ensure that they don’t hit the streets at the riskiest time of day.

She adds: “We hope this will help prevent our students from becoming involved in knife-related incidents. The investment for Twilight College is an important one for us, with the safeguarding of our young people a number one priority.”

‘Fast food restaurants not a safe space’

Dave Vasse, principal of Sir George Monoux College, a sixth-form college in based in Walthamstow, East London, says the government should fund the creation of “safe spaces” for young people in public and community buildings like schools, colleges, churches and libraries to provide extra-curricular, structured activities for young people in the evenings.

And, with additional funding, colleges could do more, he believes.

“What we urgently need to do is to tap into the potential of these safe spaces by making it possible for them to be open and available for longer periods in the week. Do this and we’ll see young people making positive choices and turning their back on crime.

Vasse adds: “We think that with more investment, we could have even greater impact and we call upon the government to rethink how it tackles the urgent issue of fighting crime. We don’t need new campaigns and task forces - just invest in those of us in the city who are already making a difference.

“With more investment, we could keep the college open in the evening and on Saturdays, offering students more of the supervised study, recreation and mentoring that they value so much. The problem is that after school or college, whilst there are some activities and we stay open as much as possible, many young people are left with pretty dire options. The local fast food restaurant is not a safe space and neither are many housing areas. Sadly, also, home is often not a great place to be for many young people.”