Working in London's East End: Social Responsibility, Art Against Knives

ART AGAINST KNIVES, an organisation based in Hackney, works with at-risk young people living in London, affected by knife crime, and facilitates creative opportunities to help them secure employment, education or training. During Easter 2014, our Social Responsibility team worked with ART AGAINST KNIVES for the first time on a ‘Design + Make’ workshop at Golden Lane.
Dai Rees with student on an Art Against Knives Workshop
Through this collaboration, eight participants from ART AGAINST KNIVES, who were either victims or perpetrators of knife crime, undertook an eight day workshop introducing them to historical craft skills and tools used to make hand-crafted leather bags.
MA Fashion Artefact Course Leader and practicing artist, Dai Rees, led the project, which demonstrated the potential of an apprenticeship-approach to the crafts as a means for employability. It also presented opportunities for the participants to recognize their own creative potential and develop a range of transferable skills.
LCF have also offered the opportunity for two of the participants to develop further skills through the provision of two places on an LCF Artscom courses.
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