The Olly Stephens Trust

Its been just over one year since Reading Kindness Rocks took Olly's Work to their hearts and started to create the Olly Rocks - the Angel, the Lovebug, the Hedghog and the Hearts. We can not thank them enough. The rocks are always free to be collected from Olly's Place in Bugs Bottom under his memorial oak tree and they come with Olly's Work everywhere that we go. You are taking them for us, sharing Olly's Legacy locally, nationally and all over the World. "In memory of Olly Stephens" prompts people to look up his name, to understand what tragically happened and what we are trying to do to protect young people and their families moving forward. So in this special post we wish to thank - Helen, TVP, Nikki, the Bereaved Families for Online Safety, Liz, Imogen's Granny, Louise, Cameron, Lawrence & Jacob for carrying Olly in your hearts and placing the rocks as you have in Londonderry, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Jersey, Mapledurham & Los Angeles. In recent weeks Olly's Work have worked with Abbey RFC - Reading Abbey Rugby Club, Reading Rugby Club, Maidenhead Rugby Club, Basingstoke Rugby Club, Highdown School & Sixth Form Centre Bohunt School Wokingham Walk Works, Deloitte, Boyes Tuner, Vocalese Choir, Grassrootz Youth Club! The wonder and strength in kindness xx #readingkindnessrocks #ollyswork

As a Charity in Olly's name, we raise awareness, campaign and fundraise around all the areas that affected Olly's short life. Anti Knifecrime, Online Safety and extra support for SEND children. Our goal is to have The Ben Kinsella Trust Exhibition locally and nationally, it's one step at a time. Imagine a future where the children in your family could visit with their schools and be taught about the choices and consequences of carrying a weapon, in an interactive and immersive way. Please connect and if you can help us to fundraise we would be very grateful, we are 60% of the way there, we need a further £20,000. We will also need a permanent home for the Exhibition: Open plan space for conversion: Approx 17m x 11m = 187m² There needs to be space for the coaches to drop off and collect the young people and we can only pay a peppercorn rent. Please reach out if you have any ideas and can help us, thank you ❤️ 🌹 🌈 #ollyswork #onlinesafety #antiknifecrime #SEND

On Wednesday, I was honoured to join a 5K walk with @walk.works in support of @ollyswork charity sponsored by @deloitte_uk I was asked to write and perform a poem at the Armoured Heart in Reading - a sculpture made from knives handed in during local amnesty schemes. Olly’s Work was founded by Stuart and Amanda after the tragic loss of their son, Olly Stephens, who was killed at just 13 following an online dispute. The charity now focuses on supporting young people and tackling issues like online harm and violence. As someone who’s seen and been personally affected by knife crime growing up, this is close to my heart. I wanted to speak on hope and the healing power of the community in moments of tragedy. Big love to @ollyswork for the amazing work you’re doing, and to @carolinegratrix_viva and Liz at Walk Works for bringing people together in such a meaningful way. #OllysWork #KnifeCrimeAwareness #EndKnifeCrime #evokewithevoke #SpokenWordPoetry

On Saturday, we were honoured to attend the inaugural community fundraising concert for The Olly Stephens Trust, raising both funds and awareness for their invaluable work protecting young people. The evening showcased a wonderful programme of local musical talent, with moving and beautiful performances from The Vocalese Choir conducted by Richard Whennell, who inspired the audience to sing along with the choir at the end of the evening to Olly’s favourite song, Starman. Julie Kench, Lisa Winship, and Martyn Strong also performed, as well as two impressive young performers, Aaditva Dasari and Ashni Dixit who performed a song she had composed just that week! Katy Trigg, Chair, and Martyn Strong, Trustee, both from The Olly Stephens Trust, hosted the evening with powerful and deeply moving speeches, sharing memories of Olly and highlighting the vital work the charity continues to carry out to help keep young people safe both online and in the community. Olly’s Dad, Stuart Stephens, closed the evening with a beautiful memory of Olly and why the song Starman by David Bowie was his favourite. The concert was organised not only to raise awareness, but also to support an important ambition for Reading: to bring The Ben Kinsella Trust Exhibition to our town. The exhibition will share Olly’s story and provide local children with the opportunity to learn about the choices and consequences surrounding knife crime. John Sykes added, “Olly’s story is both heartbreaking and powerful, and the work being carried out in his memory is truly inspiring. Seeing the community come together in such a meaningful way was incredibly moving and I felt so much love for Olly in the hall. If even one young person makes a safer choice because of Olly’s story, then his legacy will continue to protect others for years to come.” If you are able, please support this important cause by donating here: /f/the-olly-stephens-trust-ollys-work @benkinsellatrust

We are absolutely delighted to announce the latest Emergency Department award winner at the Royal Berkshire Hospital: Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Spencer Winch. Omar Nafousi, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, commented: “Spencer, many congratulations on winning this month’s staff nominations award as supported by the John Sykes Foundation. Spencer, you have been here so long you are almost part of the furniture. Your regular appearance at 5am to start your shift is a God sent to the night team.  You're a fountain of knowledge to those around you and sat in the "old-mans" corner at the doctors station, you’re always easy to find. You truly are a well-deserved recipient of the ED Staff Nominations Award.” Upon winning the monthly staff award, Spencer made a truly touching request. He chose to donate his £100 prize to The Olly Stephens Trust. This cause is incredibly close to home. Spencer’s partner, Steph (a paramedic), was involved in Olly’s care on that tragic day. This donation is a beautiful way to honour this connection and support vital work in our local community. Amanda Stephens, Olly’s Mum, joined us at the presentation to thank Spencer personally. Reflecting on the presentation Amanda commented, “What a heartwarming meeting we had on Sunday, thank you for the opportunity to meet Spencer and to be a part of the wonderful work that The John Sykes Foundation do.” The donation will go toward "Olly’s Work," including: • Preventing violent crime and knife/gang-related incidents. • Educating young people on online safety, grooming, and exploitation. • Supporting SEND youth who are often more vulnerable to crime. • Bringing the Ben Kinsella Trust’s "Choices and Consequences" exhibition to the Reading area. Join us in saying a huge Congratulations to Spencer for his well-deserved win and an even bigger thank you for his kindness. We would also like to say thank you to Hameed Qureshi, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, for presenting the award with us.

Last night our U14 @abbeyrfcgirls (clustered with @reading_rfcgirls ) were honoured to be invited to play in the first Girls’ fixture for @ollyswork annual Olly Stephens Memorial Match against @maids.girls 👏 A muddy 5-19 loss but what a competitive game of rugby played in the right spirits for an amazing cause, raising lots of money and awareness for @ollyswork Well done to all the girls and boys who turned out last night for the rugby community - amazing representatives for their clubs 👏 #AbbeyRFC

TONIGHT! The Olly Stephen’s Memorial Cup at Holme Park. U14 Boys and Girls will be playing in honour of Olly. The club will be raiding money for @ollyswork Please come down, enjoy some rugby and get involved in the raffle. Looking forward to seeing you all there this evening 💪 We are Reading RFC 💚🤍🖤 #ollystephensmemorialcup #ollyswork #readingrfc #rugbyunion

Today's wellbeing walk with the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project felt extra special to me, in the stunning zen garden on Birchwood Park, I had the honour of leaving a Reading kindness rock in memory of Olly Stephens. Olly's story is similar to Brianna's in many ways and his parents have worked hard, and continue to do so, through the Olly Stephens Trust (@ollyswork ): promoting hope and happiness and preventing hate and harm. Im extremely proud to know Amanda and Stuart, they are beautiful people, full of warmth and kindness. 🩷🌸

The Olly Stephens U14s Trophy this year will feature for the first time both boys and girls teams, which is fantastic! The Olly Stephens Trophy has been played annually since 2022, initiated by Olly's great friend Benjamin Gander's family, working with the Reading and Abbey Rugby Clubs. Thank you all for your loyalty and generosity to our"Olly's Work." Since that time the Henley Club have been involved and now Basingstoke and Maidenhead clubs too! We will as always be fundraising, there will be as always a fantastic raffle, please dm me or bring along any extra donations. We will be announcing also a silent auction for a signed Toulouse/Saracens rugby ball donated by The Willis Family for Olly's Memorial 18th, November 1st 2025. Please join us at the Reading Rugby Club @ Holme Park Farm Lane, Sonning, Reading, RG4 6ST, kick off 7pm on Friday 6th March. As always it will be a fun, heart warming event and everyone is welcome.

Olly Stephens Reading Kindness Rocks continue on their travels, with many thanks to the young people and teachers at The Wren School, Ellen, Mariano and George, Joseph, Callum, Sascha, Sara & Alison. Their journies have started in Reading, Los Angeles, Liverpool, Cyprus, Mexico, France and Glastonbury. Olly's Work is to ensure that the world knows about what happened to Olly Stephens and that we do all we can to share awareness, campaign and fundraise around online safety, antiknifecrime and extra support for SEND children. Thank you to Callum and his supporters for raising over £600 for the Olly's Work today. Thank you to Womans Own magazine for carrying Olly's story this week. Thank you to the Bereaved Families for Online Safety who this week in LA met with hundreds of other American Bereaved Families, to show their solidarity and support for the SM companies to take accountability for the harm caused via their platforms. / #theollystephenstrust #readingkindnessrocks #thebenkinsellatrust #StartingPoint #No5YoungPeople #parentingspecialchildren

Last night ITV showed again the Social Media Murders documentary - Olly Stephens. We woke up this morning to messages from friends and also strangers who felt compelled to reach out after they watched Olly's heartbreaking story. Please always share Olly's story because his death was preventable. In this documentary we spoke about Olly being criminally exploited by a gang to aim to reduce the stigma and reinforce that this can happen to any family. Last night BBC Panorama aired "Knife Crime : What happened to our Boys?" It showed how children and their families fall between the cracks in our society, dots are not joined up and children are failed. 5 years on and nothing seems to have changed. Matt Rodda our local MP last week spoke to the Childrens Commisioner Dame Rachel D'Souza in Parliament about this very fact, on our behalf and we pray for things to change. /url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=/watch/social-media-murders/10a1710/10a1710a0010&ved=2ahUKEwj52MufrM-SAxW2WkEAHX91MroQFnoECCEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0TclRdZIqZH9nHADardY80

This is your opportunity to join us! An evening of music, for an incredible cause❤️🌹 We’re hosting a special night in support of Olly’s Work, and tickets are going fast! 🎟️ Buy yours now via the link on our Facebook page, before it sells out! ‼️ Should you have trouble locating the link, please contact us directly.