‘The Real Me’: a co-creation project between Box Up Crime and University of the Arts London (UAL) to develop self-esteem and confidence for young people who are vulnerable to localised gang violence

This collaborative project between social youth organisation Box Up Crime and University of the Arts London (UAL) was made possible thanks to a seed fund award of £5,000 from the UAL Social Design Institute. It enabled the provision of a series of three co-creation workshops involving young people of school age who are vulnerable to the potential violence of localised gang activity in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Box Up Crime is an organisation founded by Stephen Addison BEM in 2017. Initially set up as a boxing club for local youngsters in Barking and Dagenham, it has developed into a vital social and support system for young people, with a commitment to “rebuild misguided dreams”. One of Box Up Crime’s programmes is their ROADS initiative — Real Opportunities, Advice, Direction & Support. This initiative supports youngsters who are having problems that are flagged up by their schools. They can subsequently be referred to ROADS, which aims to help them re-assess their young lives. The UAL workshops enabled a group of seven to eight young people to be involved. Each participant had an existing, trusted relationship with Box Up Crime, which invited them to attend. All were between the ages of 16 and 18 and predominantly of colour or mixed heritage. Their input was vital to help UAL graduates co-create the visual format of the new ROADS workbook to be used in schools as a core part of the programme. The workbook is entitled The Real Me and comprises three modules. The overall project’s objective was to provide three hands-on workshops (one for each module) in Barking and Dagenham. The workshops were designed to develop the young participants’ awareness, self-esteem and confidence by showing them how their experiences, ideas and aspirations have currency within the creative sector. By building awareness of their abilities, the workshops introduced the idea of potential future paths into education and employment, and a viable alternative to the lure of gang culture.

Crucial to the success of the project was the involvement of three UAL Graphic Design graduates who were all of colour/mixed race heritage. They were supported to develop, deliver and document the co-creation workshops. Although, initially, the project sought to support the vulnerable young people associated with Box Up Crime, the UAL graduates also became beneficiaries, developing heightened self-esteem, presentation skills and design competencies. Through the series of three workshops, the graduates were employed to encourage and enable the youngsters to co-create a new visual workbook template for the ROADS programme to re-engage with young people who have started to experience conflict, struggled at school or been excluded from mainstream education.

Feedback from the participants has validated the project’s workshop ambitions, with the youngsters reporting that the experience had opened their eyes to future opportunities and built up their confidence. It also enabled them to feel part of a process that could benefit other vulnerable youngsters like themselves. Significantly, they talked about the impact of the graduates’ involvement, and how important it was to have identifiable role models that not only looked like themselves but were also from similar backgrounds.

The project was initiated and delivered by Val Palmer and funded by the Social Design Institute.

The report was authored by Dr David Preston and Val Palmer.

• http://boxupcrime.org/