Lily Allen's knife awareness drive

Jul 8, 2008, 11:05 GMT

British pop star Lily Allen EPA/DANIEL DEME

Lily Allen wants to hold a concert to raise awareness of knife-related crimes in the UK.

The 'Smile' singer has pleaded with other music stars to support her, and has even asked London Mayor Boris Johnson for his support, following 16-year-old Ben Kinsella's death last month - the 17th person to die as a result of stabbing in London this year.

Lily wrote on her blog: "Please can everyone stop stabbing each other in the UK. It's really sad - my thoughts are with all the families affected by these heinous crimes. We need to have a knife amnesty, we should put on a big concert to raise awareness and stop the violence. Boris, if you're listening, call me man!"

Lily also explained she has dyed her pink hair back to brown out of respect for her late grandmother, who died last week.

She said: "I got bored of the pink, I can't believe I'm posting a blog about my hair. It has been a tough week though, you may have heard my Nan passed away last weekend. We were close and even though she had been very ill for the last few years, it was a big shock.

"But I went up to see my Grandad in Kings Lynn (where they lived) and drove him down to Wales where we will bury her on Friday. All very sad, but he is doing well and being very brave. Anyway, the point is my Nan would have killed me if I went to her funeral with pink hair, so there is another reason."

The 23-year-old singer revealed she will be getting a dog next week.

She added: "In other news, I'm getting a dog from Battersea Dogs Home. I found her on the weekend, and after a visit from a re-homing officer hopefully I'll have her by next week. She's called Honey and she's quite fat (insert dogs like their owners joke here), but very sweet, she's a mongrel."