The picture below is an example of some of the work the young people have produced in the workshops. First is a poster drawn to represent what knife crime is. The second pictures below is planning for the research process, it brings to light the areas in which young people are worried about within their community. There are comments including expressing that there is no safe space for young people to go, youth clubs shutting down, education giving up on hard-to-reach young people, all of which are relevant when looking at knife crime and exploring why young people might get involved in knife crime to begin with. Mind mapping in this fashion is important when it comes to research as it involves interaction and engagement from those taking part and can open new ideas and communication skills for young people. The questions on this page were formulated by the young people to get an idea of what questions need to be asked in the questionnaire. The concerns raised show that this topic is important to the young people as they have explored elements that may have been overlooked if this project was done in non-participatory fashion.

‘Youth zones being closed down’