The Ben Kinsella Trust’s Keeping Young People Safe evaluation surveyed nearly 10,000 young people and more than 200 teachers and practitioners who attended the Choices and Consequences workshop between 2022-2023.

The Choices and Consequences programme is an interactive and emotive workshop aimed at raising awareness of the impact of knife crime among young people. It is available at three locations: Barking & Dagenham, Islington and Nottingham and has reached more than 35,000 young people so far.

Headline findings included:

Fear of knife crime
∙ Over 1 in 3 young people don’t feel safe in the area they live.
∙ 36% don’t feel safe walking the streets
∙ 2 in 3 have felt anxious about knife crime in their area

Carrying knives
∙ 2% of young people have carried a knife
∙ 1 in 4 young people know someone who has carried a knife
∙ 6% of 10-11 year olds have considered carrying a knife

Changing perceptions
∙ The number of young people who thought carrying a knife would protect them dropped from 24% to 5%
∙ 73% who considered carrying a knife pledged never to carry one following the workshop.
∙ 82% of young people would recommend the workshop to their friends.
∙ 89% of attendees pledged never to carry a knife following the workshop.
∙ 100% of teachers and practitioners said the exhibition was memorable and impactful
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