Client:
The Home Office
Project:
Beats Not Blades
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#STEM - #Environment - #Motivation - #GreenSkills - #DigitalSkills - #KnifeCrime - #HomeOffice - #YouthWork - #SchoolProject - #SocialWork - #MusicProduction
Bringing an innovative, arts-based approach to solving the issues of knife crime and youth violence, we teamed up with the Home Office to deliver our Beats Not Blades anti knife-crime education programme. Delivered over two years across Wales, we developed a pro-active, early intervention prevention programme to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives and to give them the tools to make informed decisions and avoid situations that may lead to violence. Using music and songwriting as our hook, we worked with over 1000 young people to explore the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife and immersed them in the subject through writing, producing, and recording their own anti-knife crime songs.
What we did
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Two-year programme funded by The Home Office
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Working with over 1000 young people
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Proactive, early intervention prevention programme
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30 group workshops delivered across the country
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Working with young people aged 11-16
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Exploration of the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife
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Guest talks from the Police, victims of knife crime, and other professionals
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Role-play scenarios
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Risk avoidance and negotiation skills
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Lyric writing tasks to consolidate key information.
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Recording and performance to build soft skills and confidence.
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Project website to showcase all songs created
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Full impact report completed for The Home Office
Watch us in Action
Making a change
People use the term ‘prevention is better than a cure' for a reason, prevention works, and by implementing innovative and creative approaches we can help both schools and society to create a safer space, reduce the likelihood of violent incidents and promote a culture of non-violence. Beats Not Blades gives young people the tools to make their own informed decisions whilst allowing them to flex their creative muscles through the learning process.
‘’I loved taking part in the workshop, I learnt a lot and it was fun.’’
Participant - Cefn Hengoed Community School
CREATE • DELIVER • INSPIRE
Value Created
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Innovative Arts-based approach to a serious problem
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Encourages dialogue and conversation around the issues that matter
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Preventative early intervention measure
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Funded by the Home Office
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Protecting schools, local communities, and society from violent crime
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Diversionary activity using music and the arts
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Promotes self-expression and creativity
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Creating a more cohesive school and community
Delivered in 30 comprehensives
500 young people took part
Print media & TV coverage
Home Office approved project
50+ knife-crime prevention learning songs created
Potential for national roll-out
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