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Vocal Recording

Beats Not Blades

The Home Office

“Beats not Blades is a great way to teach young people about the law and dangers of knife crime. The students enjoyed the experience and it empowered them by making them the focus of discussions and debates”.

Teacher,,

Morriston Comprehensive School

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Client:

The Home Office

Project:

Beats Not Blades 

#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.

About the Project

What we did

  • Two-year programme funded by The Home Office

  • Working with over 1000 young people

  • Proactive, early intervention prevention programme

  • 30 group workshops delivered across the country

  • Working with young people aged 11-16

  • Exploration of the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife

  • Guest talks from the Police, victims of knife crime, and other professionals

  • Role-play scenarios

  • Risk avoidance and negotiation skills

  • Lyric writing tasks to consolidate key information.

  • Recording and performance to build soft skills and confidence.

  • Project website to showcase all songs created

  • 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.

Where the project took place

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‘’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

  • Innovative Arts-based approach to a serious problem

  • Encourages dialogue and conversation around the issues that matter

  • Preventative early intervention measure

  • Funded by the Home Office

  • Protecting schools, local communities, and society from violent crime

  • Diversionary activity using music and the arts

  • Promotes self-expression and creativity

  • 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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We are passionate about making a positive impact via fun, engaging, purposeful education outreach projects.

 

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