The opening speaker was a 17 year old who had been a victim of knife crime. The Catford teenager was stabbed in the head earlier this year.
He survived and bravely retold his story to an audience of youth workers, victims, bereaved families, police, healthcare professionals, politicians and criminologists.
Although involved with youth charity XLP before the stabbing, he said that it became a huge source of support for him and his family and taught him that not every negative action needs a reaction.
Hannah Bourazza, XLP employee, whose son Nathaniel was murdered three years ago also spoke.
Two of Nathaniel's teenage friends - one of whom held Nathaniel while he died in her arms - spoke about how their lives had been changed by their terrible experience and of the fear among teenagers in their communities.
Hannah Bourazza championed young people, offering suggestions of how to help them avoid turning to knife crime and affirming that she believes in the next generation.
Key note speaker Sheldon Thomas, former leading gang member and founder of Gangsline, encouraged attendees to focus on restoring families: "The truth of the matter is, if you have families broken, you will have a broken society."
He talked about the pain underlying gang members and his belief that: "No gang member in this country actually wants to be a gang member."
A mixed panel expressing opinions from police, medical professionals and gang experts took questions from the floor, giving advice about how to tackle knife crime together.
Duncan Bew, consultant surgeon and clinical lead for Trauma and Emergency Surgery at Kings College Hospital, shared his experiences of knife crime from a medical perspective.
He expressed HIS frustration, stressing the importance of tackling the underlying issues of gang crime: "If I know there's nothing more I could have done medically to keep that person alive, then we have to look before that point - we have to look at primary prevention."
Chief Superintendent John Sutherland said the Police: "Try to seek justice on behalf of those who aren't able to seek it themselves."
He went on to say that: "As a society, we are addicted to violence," and that, "we have got to do something in a supposedly civilised society about the normalisation of violence."
When asked about what churches can do to help, John Sutherland told Premier that they are an enduring presence within the community: "Places of worship are a constant in a community and therefore in a position to build trusting relationships over time."
He encouraged churches to invest in positive relationships and stay involved over time.
Patrick Regan, CEO of XLP added that the church has an absolutely unique opportunity to help but that: "We are sometimes a bit inward looking."
He disagreed that church "is about dragging people into our buildings," suggesting that "it's about what happens out there in the community and being a presence there."
Andrez Harriot, founder of The Liminality Group (and former member of 90s boy band Damage) stressed the importance of praying for gang members.
He told Premier: "There are forces sometimes behind what's going on that only prayer can break.
Author: Ruth Jackson