About Us

After Billy’s death, his father, Paul Dove, didn’t want anyone else to go though what he and his family were enduring. He describes the lives of all children as ‘precious’ and wants to see them live long happy and productive lives. By setting up Billy’s Wish, we are working to educate our children and young people about the dangers of knife crime and how to make positive choices instead.

Our Achievements

In 2018

3760 Students Engaged

From 59 Schools

In 2019

3725 Students Engaged

From 68 Schools

The Billy’s Wish Team

Patrons

Martin Griffiths

I have personal experience of losing a loved one to knife crime and have spent my professional life as a Trauma Surgeon working with communities to understand the drivers of youth violence and to help change how we as a society address it. I led the development of the first ward-based violence reduction programme in the UK. This had tremendous success in supporting the victims and families of violence and led onto contributing to community programmes that have made a huge difference to those we have encountered. I’m currently the Clinical Director of the Violence Reduction Network for NHS London, and the first National Clinical Director for Violence Reduction for NHS England. I’m hugely grateful to Billy’s amazing family for building this Charity that celebrates his life and works tirelessly to help young people recognise their potential and make our society a better and happier place. It’s my privilege to be a patron of Billy’s Wish and am grateful to them for inspiring me to do more to end youth violence.

Paul Dove

Billy’s father and founder of Billy’s Wish.

Trustees

Chair

Sally Masson

Billy’s aunt, and Trustee of Billy’s Wish. As well as her role as Trustee, Sally attends workshops, symposiums, and educational talks. As a professional photographer she has also undertaken all the photography for the charity over the last 8 years and for Doves United.

Treasurer

Fi Halsey

Billy was the cute little boy who lived down our road and we saw him grow up into a kind and delightful young man. Like the rest of our town, I was shocked and horrified that, Billy was murdered in our market square. It well and truly brought it home that knife crime affects us all now.

Unfortunately, much charity is born out of the loss of a loved one and I applaud the bravery of the knife crime victim families who have stepped up and continue to campaign to save other families from this devastation. I’ve known Billy’s family for many years and was honoured to become a trustee of Billy’s Wish. If anything our charity does stops another life being lost to this needless crime, it is a job well done in my book.

Secretary

Devon Masson

I’m Billy’s cousin and I have volunteered for the charity since it was founded and have since become secretary trustee as of May 2018. I am a recent law graduate and losing billy in the way we did is one of the reasons I chose to read Law at University. Over the years I have spoken publicly about how I have dealt with the loss of billy at school assemblies, in the charity’s educational film and most recently at Long Lartin Prison. Although, speaking about this publicly can be challenging, I feel it is important for students and individuals to understand the pain and devastation knife crime can cause families. Subsequently, as trustee, I hope to educate others regarding the consequences of knife crime and prevent other families from going through the same pain.

Education Officers

Education Officer: Katharine Harper (BSc Hons, PGCE)

Katharine is a qualified Primary School Teacher. She has been a friend of the family for many years and has supported Billy’s Wish from it’s early stages. She became our Education Officer in 2017.

Katharine’s role includes keeping the education resources up to date, liaising with schools and youth organisations to lead workshops and deliver talks, as well as sharing the role of spokesperson for the charity in the press and media.

Assistant Education Officer: Jade Masson

Jade was Billy’s cousin and 9 years old when Billy died. She went on to give talks in her secondary school about knife crime, the consequences and preventative measures. She has also assisted Katherine on her crucial crew/educational days.