Overview
- King Charles conferred a knighthood on the 53-year-old in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to young people.
- Elba dedicated the honour to the youth served by his Elba Hope Foundation, urging sustained, practical support to help them avoid violence.
- He founded Don’t Stop Your Future to back grassroots work against knife crime and established the Elba Hope Foundation with Sabrina Dhowre Elba.
- In 2024 he called for bans on machetes and so-called zombie knives, met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to help launch an anti-knife-crime coalition, and presented a BBC documentary examining the issue.
- His foundation partnered with The Prince’s Trust in 2024 on Creative Futures, offering free courses for young people not in work, education or training, building on support he received from the charity as a teenager.