Blog

The new Nae Danger Game has been designed for schools and youth organisations and aims to empower young people to stand up, speak out and get help if a friend or someone they know is carrying a knife. This unique ‘choose your own adventure’ interactive video game is based on No Knives Better Lives (NKBL) […]

Welcome to NKBL’s Detached Youth Work Month! In this webinar, we’re chatting with Mary and Shelley from Granton Youth in Edinburgh about getting started with detached youth work. Find more knife crime prevention resources at https://noknivesbetterlives.com/​​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NKBLScotland​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nkblscotland/​​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoKnivesBetterLivesScotland  ​

Penificent has a unique approach to highlighting young people’s issues and positively influence change through comics and workshops. Penificent Publishing, address relatable issues in society in a creative way through entertainment and publishing. The comics contain thought-provoking discussion questions directly related to each book’s topic, e.g. Mental health, Knife crime etc. The workbook comic also […]

In light of ongoing restrictions, we decided to focus February on detached youth work. Detached youth work is a model of youth work practice targeted at young people on their territory, like streets, parks, and open and shared public spaces. As of 21st January 2021, Scottish Government guidance permits the delivery of detached youth work […]

During lockdown 2020, creative projects were a way to take your mind off the situation and turn a waste of time into a productive activity. As for Darren (DG32) he wanted to pursue his passion for music and created lyrical content relevant to many of the criminal issues within the community. His release – Trapped, […]

We held a webinar on preventing violence in a recession, where we discussed the challenges of preventing violence during a recession while maintaining a rights-based approach. We discussed what violence in Scotland looked like at the last recession 12 years ago, what has changed, what does justice look like for a young person and then […]

Last week we held our first No Knives, Better Lives Community of Practice. A community of practice is a network of individuals with common problems or interests who get together to explore ways of working, identify common solutions, and share good practice and ideas. The community of practice is part of our strategic response to […]

2020 has seen major shifts that are going to cause huge socio-economic and cultural changes to society as we know it.  This is no exaggeration.  This is not the gentle nudge theory that change happens in almost imperceptible tiny stages.  This is shove theory; sudden, shocking and urgent. So we ask ourselves, what happens now? […]

These are unprecedented times and as we move forward together, we need to ensure that young people are at the heart of how our service pivots towards their needs. In light of this we have moved many of our programmes and services online and will engage in a national conversation with practitioners, parents and young […]

My name is Damian Taylor and I’m a Community Worker for North Ayrshire Council. I’ve been working with the national No Knives Better Lives Team for 10 years. We started off with a launch event at Eglinton County Park in Kilwinning. This included two young people, one a victim of knife crime and the other […]

I am a Sergeant in Police Scotland and have completed 29 years police service in a variety of mostly front-line roles.  In April 2015, I took up a newly created post within the existing SPS Community Safety Department at HMP & YOI Polmont working with young people aged 16-22, with the joint aims of reducing […]

Youth workers play a very important role when it comes to the reduction of young people carrying knives. The G15 Youth Project operates in the north west of Glasgow with young people aged 12-25. The area we work in has historically been known for high levels of anti-social behaviour, violence and territorialism and unfortunately has […]

A new collection of stock images on knife crime have been launched in an effort to reduce the use of graphic and sensationalised images in the media of young people. The project, named ‘Taking Stock’, involved co-designing the images with young people with experience of offending. Young people looked at images currently used to portray […]

The last decade has seen the theory of resilience gain increasing traction as a way of generally explaining why some young people fare better than others. Often seen as a buzzword, the theory of resilience is used to describe how some young people can endure ‘toxic stress,’ caused by living with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). […]