Samantha’s Legacy
1955. Carly Barrett
1956. Alison Madgin
1957. Yvonne Butterfield
Carly Barrett, Alison Madgin and Yvonne Butterfield, from North Tyneside, founded ‘Samantha’s Legacy’ to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives, in memory of Samantha Madgin, Alison's daughter, Carly's sister and Yvonne's cousin, who was murdered in 2007.
Samantha was aged only 18 and had only given birth two months previously to a baby boy Callum when she was fatally stabbed in the street following a night out by a 15-year-old girl who had been taking cocaine. Following the personal tragedy, Samantha’s family wanted to use their experience to make young people aware of the horrors and impact of knife crime, and help prevent violent crime. Setting up ‘Samantha’s Legacy’ in 2019 on what would have been Samantha’s 30th birthday, Carly, Alison and Yvonne have now delivered more than 1,500 knife crime awareness workshops to young people between the ages of 12-18 across the North East. Through the social enterprise, they also offer counselling services to victims of knife crime, and have developed a retreat for families who have recently experienced trauma to support them through the grieving process.
Carly, Alison and Yvonne said:
“For our work to be recognised at this level means everything to us, we feel truly honoured and thankful for the nomination. It is never easy reliving the tragic death of our Samantha but we share her story with young people to make sure no family suffers the heartache which we all have. Our passion to prevent knife crime, support victims of crime and the support we receive from others is what gives us the strength to do what we do. This recognition will be displayed proudly at our ‘Victims Retreat’ with a message of hope to victims of serious violent crime. We kindly and honourably accept this award with love, in honour, and in memory of Samantha Jane Madgin, Lee Andrew Madgin, and all who have tragically lost their life too soon.”