It's a Manchester Bee with a difference - one carrying a crucial, life-saving message along with it. Made up of thousands of guns, knives and other weapons taken off the streets of Greater Manchester, this powerful and unique sculpture is now touring schools to hammer home its anti-violence message.
The towering structure is the brainchild of the same organisation behind the 27ft-high 'Knife Angel' sculpture, which was created from 100,000 knives surrendered to police forces. That, too, tours the country as an anti-gun and knife symbol.
The Manchester Evening News first revealed plans for the Manchester Bee in September, 2020, and now its completed and out on the road. The British Ironwork Centre, based in Oswestry, Shropshire, worked alongside Greater Manchester Police on the concept.
The finished sculpture, which is believed to have already visited a school in Denton, is expected to used by GMP and other bodies as a thought-provoking educational tool.
Clive Knowles, chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, said they hoped the Bee could replicate the Knife Angel's impact. He said its been created deliberately on a trailer so it can go into communities and schools across the country quickly and easily.
He said: "It's made entirely of weapons from Manchester exclusively. It's taken two years and now it's a huge relief it is being used and out on its Manchester tour. There's never been a national monument made of firearms before.
"We've already received calls from Kent and West Mercia police constabularies, asking to use it. And we've had prisons contact us as well, to use the Manchester Bee as an educational tool, actually visiting prisons."
The sculpture, launched after the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing, was created to 'symbolise Manchester's intolerance to all forms of violence'. In July, 2020, a 7.5-tonne lorry delivered thousands of weapons to the centre's foundries.
A spokesman for the centre said: "The variety and sheer volume of weapons delivered to the Ironworks was a stark reminder that our need to suppress violence is a continual effort that requires a continual focus. The piece created for Manchester is their first and only anti-violence monument created from recovered weapons, so it will be entirely unique on many fronts.
"The worker bee is an important symbol to the people of Manchester, signifying a city made by the workers and by the people. The bee inspires the idea that together, we are stronger and can achieve incredible goals as a society.
"We wanted to capture this ideal within the monument. Created and developed in a way that the bee can easily be transported, the monument is travelling the suburbs of Greater Manchester to educate and raise awareness on anti-violence and anti-aggression within the community.
"We hope that the bold design of the bee, paired with the important symbolism of the bee itself, will invoke education, communication, and discussion so we can turn the tide of devastating violence within Greater Manchester.
"An educational monument built uniquely from the weapons recovered successfully from Manchester's streets, deliberately designed to ignite conversation around how to reduce violent behaviour and how to increase social intolerance to all acts of aggression," reads a blurb on its front.
Manchester's worker bee symbol has grown in significance since the Arena terror attack of 2017, which claimed 22 lives. It has now come to represent Manchester's indomitable spirit with examples clear to see across Greater Manchester, from tattoos to car stickers.
The weapons were gathered from amnesties held across Greater Manchester over the years. Mr Knowles said he was delighted with the result, and that he hoped the Bee would help spread the anti-violence message. "Once Greater Manchester Police have finished their anti violence campaign with the monument, it's hoped that the Bee will journey on to all four corners of the UK," he added.
The Bee is the follow-up to the giant Knife Angel, created from more than 100,000 seized blades. The sculpture has visited around 20 towns and cities in five years.
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