www.benkinsella.org.uk

The Ben Kinsella Trust3 years of delivering The Ben Kinsella exhiBiTion

‘Now it truly is the time to stand up and put an end to this.’ - Kinsella Family

Over the last 3 years we have collected extensive impact data from young people attending the Ben Kinsella Exhibition. To date over 7200 young people

have visited the exhibition, the majority (64%) aged

between 9-11 years old. Using responses from 3950

young people who visited between 2013 and 2015 we

have been learning about what young people think

about their communities and crime. The feedback

that these young people have given us highlights how

concerned they are about knife crime. Despite the best

efforts of government, local authorities and the police

to address the problem, the majority of young people

visiting our exhibition still feel the problem is getting

worse. For example, 1 in every 2 young people don’t

always feel safe walking our streets and 1 in every

7 knows a friend who carries a knife. We find these

results staggering and have produced this report

to highlight not only the young people’s fears about

knife crime, but to share some of the successes of our

exhibition and workshop in addressing these issues,

most notably:

ExEcuTivE Summary

Of thOse yOung peOple whO had cOnsidered carrying a knife tO prOtect themselves:

70% said they would no longer consider this option.

Of the number Of yOung peOple whO admitted carrying a knife:

half said they would not do so any longer following their visit to our exhibition.

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 2016 02

We believe that these results demonstrate how effective and powerful educating young people about the dangers of carrying a knife and empowering them to make positive choices can be.

aBouT ThE BEn KinSElla TruST

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 201603

Ben Kinsella was just sixteen years old when he was stabbed to death in an unnecessary act of horrific violence. He had recently finished school, was

predicted top grades for his GCSEs and was looking

forward to a life full of promise. Ben's family wanted

to use his story to prevent any other families having to

go through the devastation that they experienced; and

so in 2008, just months after Ben was taken from them,

The Ben Kinsella Trust was started.

The Kinsella family wanted to create a legacy for Ben

by supporting young people growing up in London to

make positive choices, educating them on the impact

and consequences of knife crime and helping them

to think about how to make smart choices and stay

safe. Being open about the effect that losing Ben

has had on their family is one way that this impact is

communicated, as his sister Brooke says:

“Ben was murdered on Sunday, June 29, 2008. He

was 16. I have used many words in connection with

my brother over the years - annoying and lazy

among them - but never did I think I would place his

name next to a terrible word such as murder….If I

could talk to Ben one last time, I would tell him he

was the best little brother a girl could ask for. That he

made my life so much fun and no one will make me

laugh like he did. That I love him more than he could

know and wish I had told him so much more often.”

since Ben’s murder the Kinsella family have become known for speaking out about knife crime and campaigning for change, from the People’s March in 2008, to being instrumental in changing the minimum tariff for knife murders in 2010 to setting up The Ben Kinsella exhibition in 2012.

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 2016 04

Islington’s Youth Crime Strategy, laid out in 2015, claimed: “We are committed to making Islington one of the safest boroughs in London. We want Islington to be a fairer place where every child has the best start in life and does not become either a victim or perpetrator of crime.”

The borough’s Children and Families Prevention

and Early Intervention Strategy 2015-2025, states this

amongst their aims for primary school children:

“Children are and feel safe, are able to learn from experience and have the confidence to make positive and safe choices”.

We are working with schools, targeted Youth Services and

other Vol untary and Community sector organisations to

achieve these aims through our work.

how doES our worK fiT in wiTh ThE Borough and oThEr SErvicES?

The Ben Kinsella Exhibition launched in Islington in September 2012 before moving to Millwall Football Club for a year, returning to Islington in November 2014, now our permanent home. Children visit the exhibition from schools and

organisations in the boroughs closest to the exhibition

such as Islington, Haringey, Enfield, Hackney,

Southwark and Lewisham. These are all inner London

boroughs housing densely populated, diverse and

deprived populations.

Islington, which is the ‘home’ borough of the charity,

has a population of 225,000 people and is the 26th

most deprived authority in England. A staggering

32.4% of children in Islington are living in poverty,

the third highest in England after Tower Hamlets

and Middlesborough. Just over a quarter of Islington

children live in households where no one is in

employment. As in many inner London boroughs, the

rates of knife crime in Islington are high and sadly in

2015 of the 15 young people murdered in knife attacks

in London, 3 were killed in Islington. In the 12 months

to February 2016, there were 7,690 reported incidents

of violence against a person in Islington, a 13%

increase on the previous year.

In 2015, 4,978 young people were reported as victims

of crime in the borough, although this figure is likely

to be higher due to unreported crime. Our charity is

delivering a much needed service is an area where

young people can be vulnerable to becoming involved

in criminal activity or victims of crime.

whErE do wE worK?

yOung peOple have attended a wOrkshOp with their schOOl Or OrganisatiOn since we launched in 2012.7200

64% of ExhiBiTion

viSiTorS wErE from

primary SchoolS

(agEd 9-11 yEarS old)

befOre and after evaluatiOn surveys were cOmpleted between June 2013 - december 2015 which prOvided the data fOr this repOrt.

3950

22% wErE from

SEcondary SchoolS

14% wErE from

youTh organiSaTionS

or youTh offEnding

TEamS

In ‘Ben’s Room’ they find out about what Ben was

like and what they have in common with him: “Ben

Kinsella was a sixteen year old boy who loved life. He

loved his family and friends, his dog Teddy, football,

art, cooking and girls. He had a heart of gold and was

the biggest clown there ever was – always trying to

make people laugh in any way he could.”

Walking into our ‘Cinema room’ the young people

watch a documentary about the night of Ben's murder

and the ripple effect it had on his family, friends and

a whole community. As one young person said, “The

most emotional part was the cinema. It really told me

how the family felt and it made me think about how my

family would feel if it had been me who got stabbed.”

We believe that by showing the impact that losing Ben

had on his family and friends, young people can realise

the consequences of carrying a knife. Teachers agree

with this: “Very sensitive and tragic circumstances

were dealt with appropriately and the children learnt

a great deal that will hopefully help them to make the

right choices in the future to keep themselves and

others safe.”

In the ‘Consequences Room’ young people start to

learn about what happens if you make negative and

The journey that young people embark on when they visit the Ben Kinsella Exhibition aims to start them thinking about consequences and choices.

ThE BEn KinSElla ExhiBiTion

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 201605

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 2016 06

positive choices, about choosing the right friends; they

learn about joint enterprise and the laws surrounding

knife crime. In the words of one young person:

“I would advise every person my age to come and see this. It teaches you a lot about life and its consequences. Lots of young people I know don’t realise the consequence of carrying a knife and what it could do. Hopefully we learn from this.”

Participants then step into the prison cell, the most

popular part of the exhibition, where one of the actors

drives home the reality of what life in prison is truly

like. “If I am honest I hated being in that room. The

prisoner scared me, he was so intense and then sad.

Even the boy in our class that is the mouthy one was

quiet! It really gives you a sense of what prison is like.”

A parent who came along to the exhibition with her

son said this about the cell:

“The actor in the prison cell was so realistic, I believe this part of the day had a massive impact on my son, he knows now that he never wants to end up there.”

Young people go on to take part in a role play using

a large comic strip and discuss how to say no and

identify good or bad friends. They finish the workshop

by being asked to sign a pledge to never carry a knife.

Over the last 3 years we have collected extensive

impact data from young people and taken on board

their feedback about what does and doesn’t work at the

exhibition. From this feedback we have made changes

such as moving away from paper based work to

launching interactive technology apps used on tablets

in the consequences room and to sign the pledge;

which was an area of the exhibition which young people

said could be improved. We hope that the learning does

not end at our doors, and we encourage teachers and

parents to pick up these messages again in school

and at home. After filling in some of the take-home

worksheets with her class, one teacher said:

“I would like to say how poignant and well thought-out the exhibition is. It really makes the students think about the consequences, and I am sure it was an experience the students will remember for a long time...I can honestly say my students have learned.”

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 201607

Young people are both aware and very concerned about knife crime and youth violence in our society. Both the high rates of concern and the statistics of how

many young people have a friend who has carried a

knife show that young people need a forum in which to

discuss their concerns and ask advice. We believe that early education is crucial, and so we

focus on the transition ages of years 6 and 7 as young

people start secondary school, make new friends

and are exposed to new influences. With over half of

young people only sometimes or never feeling safe

on our streets, these are worrying and sad statistics

that show heightened fear in some young people which

could potentially lead to carrying a knife in certain

circumstances.

Having seen a rise in knife crime and youth violence

in the capital in 2015 our concern is that violent

behaviour becomes normalised by a minority of

young people.

whaT havE wE found ouT?

of young people think that knife crime is a problem.

93%

83%of young people are concerned about youth violence.

of young people think that knife crime is getting worse.

54%

5%of young people never feel safe walking on our streets.

47%of young people only sometimes feel safe walking on our streets.

of young pEoplE Said a friEnd of ThEirS had carriEd a KnifE14.9%

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 2016 08

Overall these numbers show an important change in attitude in some young people following our intervention, with more young people understanding that carrying a knife will not protect them.

We can also identify that there are some young

people who are at higher risk of offending and

potentially becoming a victim. These young people

need further support, and we know that we still have

more work to do to try to ensure that no young person

leaves thinking that it is a good idea to carry a knife.

We work with youth offending teams, and so it is not

a surprise that some young people have entrenched

beliefs and fears about their safety and knife carrying.

The challenge is to get across our message in a

relevant and effective way.

Because of this challenge we have recently piloted

a 6 week programme with a small number of young

people who have been convicted of a knife offence, as

we realise a one-off intervention is not likely to be as

effective with this group.

BEFORE THE WORKSHOp 9% OF THE YOuNg pEOpLE THOugHT THaT CaRRYINg a KNIFE WOuLd pROTECT THEM.

after the tour 2.4%of young people still thought that carrying a knife would protect them.

before the workshop 3.5% of young people said they had carried a knife before and 7.2% of young people said that they had thought about carrying a knife.

afTEr ThE worKShop 1.8% of young pEoplE Said ThaT ThEy would STill conSidEr carrying a KnifE in ThE fuTurE.

84.1% of young pEoplE rEporTEd ThaT ThEy had lEarnT a loT aBouT ThE choicES ThEy could maKE To STay SafE and ouT of TrouBlE.

young pEoplE’S lEarning

100% of teachers that visited said that they would bring another group to the exhibition and that the trust are achieving key learning objectives.

87.2% Said ThEy had lEarnT a loT aBouT ThE conSEquEncESof KnifE crimE.

86.4% Said ThEy had lEarnT a loT aBouT JoinT EnTErpriSE and ThE law.

KnifE carrying

less than 1% of young people felt that they hadn’t learnt anything from the exhibition.

The Ben Kinsella TrUsT 201609

Over 6500 young people in London have heard Ben’s story and learnt about the consequences and choices connected with knife crime. The

Ben Kinsella Exhibition is an impactful tool for the

education and prevention of knife crime, and the

majority of our visitors report high levels of learning.

Participation in a workshop with the Trust shows a

measurable, immediate impact on young people’s

perception of carrying a knife. Young people reported

a higher level of confidence in making choices after the

tour, with a majority responding that they had learnt

a lot. The Trust through Ben’s exhibition is delivering

Ben’s legacy; and we will continue this important work

until we stop losing our children to this tragic and

pointless crime.

We recognise that there are many others who work

towards this aim and are doing fantastic work in crime

prevention and education, and that only together will

we make the difference that we want.

Summary

rEcommEndaTionS

planS for ThE fuTurEKnife crime is a complex issue, with many underlying social issues. Early education is one

part of the solution. We believe that in order for

this work to be of most benefit to young people it

must be reinforced with similar messages in school

and at home. We are working alongside The PSHE

association to improve the resources that we provide

to schools to support them in this, and we hope to

develop a take-home app for young people that can

support them in staying safe.

For the young people who are the most at risk of

being involved in knife crime and youth violence,

working with partners, we are developing a longer-

term programme as we recognise that this is more

appropriate. To build on our work for young people

taking the transition from primary to secondary

school, we have developed interactive summer

workshops that includes Ben’s Story, making friends,

bullying, and peer pressure. We are also going to

open up our space to parents and carers in order to

improve awareness and support in the community.

We recognise that more needs to be done to measure

the long term impact of our work, and so we will be

piloting methods to capture this data and find out more

about what happens to the children that we meet in the

years to come.

To find out more about our work or any of the information in his report, please

contact The Ben Kinsella Trust at Email: queries@benkinsella.org.uk

and visit our website: www.benkinsella.org.uk

Schools and youth organisations should recognise that youth violence and knife crime are issues that have touched the lives of many of their young people, and opportunities should be given for discussion and advice in an open and supportive environment.

The curriculum should be changed to make education

around these issues mandatory as part of a wider PSHE

agenda. There needs to be increased recognition of the role

that all sectors and organisations play in a young person’s life

in order to make the best referrals that we can at the time

when a young person needs additional support. We must

all work together if we want to see an end to young people

being murdered on our streets.

Parental engagement should be encouraged in programmes

that support them in recognising the signs of when their child

is getting into trouble and positive parenting techniques of

how to deal with this.

Young people should be nurtured and supported - if we all

recognise the significant challenges that young people face

today - then education, sharing, and having open dialogue

with young people can lead to building trust, and them

seeking help and support when they need it.

The Ben Kinsella TrustThe Hub5 Torrens St, London EC1V 1NQ

Email: queries@benkinsella.org.ukf /kinsellatrust t @kinsellatrust

www.benkinsella.org.uk

Registered charity number 1126612