Powerful Swindon campaign launched to highlight the loss of a loved one from knife crime

Swindonian Jordan Turner has launched 'The Empty Chair' campaign today five years after her brother, Lee, was fatally stabbed.

Lee Turner, 33, from Park North died from a single stab wound to the chest in Gorse Hill on 10 October 2021.

The campaign uses each family’s actual chair as a visual representation of the person who should still be sitting there. Lee’s chair will form part of the campaign alongside chairs representing other lives lost.

His sister Jordan said: "I’m launching a new campaign here in Swindon called The Empty Chair. The idea came from my own experience of losing my brother, Lee Turner, who died in Swindon on 10 October 2021.

"Five years on, I found myself thinking about how easily people who have lost their lives through knife crime can become another statistic or an old news story.

"But for the families left behind, they are never old news.

"Lee was my brother. He was a son, uncle, partner and friend. He was funny, caring, loud, loving and a huge character. There is still an empty space where he should be.

"That is where The Empty Chair came from.

"Lee’s actual chair has become part of the campaign, and it will be taken to the venue where Lee was killed. For me, that makes the chair more than just a campaign image. It represents the person who should still be here and the permanent space his death left behind."

The campaign brings together bereaved families from different parts of the country, including families connected with Charlie Cosser in Surrey and Rhamero ‘Mero’ West in Greater Manchester.

Every chair represents a different person and a different family.

But the message is the same: They are not statistics. They are people.

Jordan had previously founded Change Lives, No to Knives after losing Lee. The non-profit organisation works on knife-crime awareness and prevention through education, community work, youth engagement and practical safety initiatives.

Jordan has taken the charity’s work into schools and communities and into Parliament, including bleed-control awareness and training with MPs. The charity has also received awards and worked with organisations and supporters on prevention and community projects.

Jordan said: "I hope The Empty Chair makes people stop for a moment. I hope it makes people think about the families left behind. And most of all, I hope it reminds people that every empty chair has a person behind it, a story behind it and people who still wish they were sitting there.

"As we approach the fifth anniversary of Lee's death, I know October is going to be an emotional month for me and my family. But I also want it to be a month of remembering him properly — not just how he died, but who he was and how much he was loved.

"This campaign is about putting the person back into the story. It is about showing that behind every statistic is somebody's brother, sister, son, daughter, mum, dad, partner, friend or loved one. When the headlines disappear, the families don't get to move on from the loss.

"I created The Empty Chair because I don't want Lee, or any of the people represented in this campaign, to become yesterday's news. Their families still say their names. We still remember their birthdays. We still have photographs, memories and stories. We still love them.

"For me, taking Lee's chair to the place where he died was incredibly difficult. But it also felt important. That chair represents the space he left behind, and the fact that five years on, that space is still there.

"The Empty Chair came from that feeling. I wanted something people could actually see — not another statistic on a page, but an empty seat where somebody should still be sitting. A chair that makes you think about the person who should be there and the family who has had to carry on without them.

"There are days when grief feels heavy, and there are days when I can laugh at a memory of Lee and feel grateful that I got to have him in my life. Both things can exist at the same time. You learn to carry the loss while still carrying the love.

"Lee was not a statistic. He wasn't a headline. He wasn't just another name attached to knife crime. He was my brother. He was a son, a partner, an uncle, a brother-in-law and a friend. He had a personality, a laugh, a huge presence and people who loved him. And five years later, those people still miss him.

"On 10 October 2026, it will be five years since I lost my brother, Lee, to knife crime.

"Five years sounds like a long time when you say it out loud. But when you have lost someone you love, you quickly learn that time doesn't mean you stop missing them. Five years doesn't make the empty space disappear. It doesn't bring back the birthdays, Christmases, family gatherings, conversations, laughs and ordinary moments that should have happened.

“Five years doesn't make the empty chair any less empty.”