New Vic Borderlines host Stealing Dreams Youth Conference during Staffordshire’s Ditch The Blade week

14th November 2022

As part of the on-going Stealing Dreams project commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, New Vic Borderlines are hosting a Youth Conference at the theatre this week where local schools are invited to consider the effects of knife crime and discuss ways to tackle it with partners from the Youth Offending Service, Child Exploitation Strategy and Stoke City Council. The conference, which coincides with Staffordshire Police’s ‘Ditch The Blade’ week, will include a VR experience by Round Midnight and will feature guest speakers, including football players from Port Vale and Stoke City FC.

The conference follows a series of interactive CSI-style workshops that have been taking place throughout October and November. The workshops have allowed hundreds of high school students across Stoke-on-Trent to experience what it is like to investigate knife crime by solving clues and playing the role of a witness. By working in groups to collect evidence together, the students were able to rewind the ‘incident’ and prevent it from happening. The workshops have been very well-received, and this week’s conference will draw on the preventative measures explored by students as part of the workshops to indicate how we can all help to challenge the issue of knife crime.

Since Spring 2022, the Stealing Dreams project has reached over 4,000 young people in the local area and the Youth Conference, taking place at the New Vic on Wednesday 16 November, is a culmination of shared ideas which actively help in the prevention of serious knife crime.

Photo Gallery

Stealing Dreams, photo by Andrew Billington

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