No More Red (NMR) was devised by Arsenal/adidas to encourage young residents from the areas local to Emirates Stadium to choose pathways which lead away from knife crime and other street violence, particularly when part of organised crime. A community centre in Islington North which sits at the heart of two estates which regularly encounter in gang violence attributed to conflicts between the local N19 and N7 immediately to the south.
Supported by use of ABC project work as part of a six-month programme,10 young people aged 11-22 documented their home-spaces including the using photovoice the things that they love about their homes and the things they would most like to change. This was presented as a film reel by the 10 participating young people at Cambridge the following Autumn.
This summit took seriously the Children’s Commissioner’s argument that: “[to see] policy and practice through the eyes of a child puts their needs at the heart of design and delivery, bringing fresh perspective, greater credibility,” renewing our collective focus on listening with young people to help them document and express their lived realities both within and outside schools by centring young people within the conversation. We welcomed artists, academics, educators, community leaders and young people to come together to think across these tensions and aim for productive and practical next steps, whether simply in terms of opening pathways to partnership or in service of longer-term, larger-scale transformations.