StreetDoctors and Raw London have launched a challenging new campaign designed to transform the dialogue around youth violence. #ApplyPressure hopes to make a real difference to knife crime fatalities by educating and empowering young people to feel able to act if they encountered someone bleeding. At the centre of the campaign is a hero video, supported by a suite of digital assets and a PR and social media plan that reached 1 million impressions and more than 200,000 video views in it’s first week. The film has already been retweeted by the grime artist Wiley and the Home Office, and will soon be featured on TV news channels alongside new research from StreetDoctors.
We collaborated closely to create a film with a simple powerful message that would show young people what to do when someone is bleeding. Calling an ambulance, making sure you are safe and then applying pressure to the wound are the most important things to do to keep someone who has been stabbed alive. The simple action of applying pressure can be lifesaving and we want to empower young people to help reduce casualties caused by street violence.
This reflects StreetDoctors’ own values to avoid talking at young people about the danger of carrying knives, and instead offers a fresh perspective to both highlight the consequences of knife crime and empower young people to feel able to help.
Key to this campaign was engaging young people in its development, so we attended multiple training sessions and discussed individual experiences of the wider issue, as well as StreetDoctors’ impact, with 13-24 year olds. The cast was also carefully selected from theatre schemes for young people, with lived experience of youth violence. The film’s main character (Sam) was played by Finn Kebbe, who trained with inclusive theatre company, Chickenshed, while Unique Spencer (Tina) trained at Generation Arts and most recently appeared in Netflix’s hit show Top Boy. Nadine-Rose Johnson (Paramedic) had been trained by StreetDoctors and completed their Stepwise programme to co-deliver sessions throughout 2019.
StreetDoctors were the winners of our annual small charity competition and the prize of £15,000 of content strategy and production from our award-winning in-house team. With shocking statistics showing knife crime at its highest point since records began, we were blown away by StreetDoctors’ tangible and practical solution to directly save lives – without alienating the young people they need to reach.
Previous winners of the competition include Northumberland Domestic Abuse Services (NDAS) and their emotional abuse campaign, Control. The campaign was hugely successful for the charity and went on to win 12 international awards, including Gold at Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, Content Marketing Awards and The Drum Social Purpose Awards. It was also named CSR Project of the Year by the Charity Times Awards 2017. Before that, Jinja, Uganda for development charity S.A.L.V.E. International, won Gold at the Charity Film Awards after sparking a significant increase in donations.
StreetDoctors teach emergency first aid to young people at risk of youth violence. They do this through a unique movement of young healthcare volunteers who train 11-25 year olds to understand the true medical consequences of violence and empower them to become lifesavers in their communities. Training sessions for 11-25 year olds are delivered in partnership with criminal justice services, schools, pupil referral units, sports and community groups. Young people leave StreetDoctors sessions equipped with the knowledge to make informed decisions about how to keep themselves and others safe. You can learn more about their work and get in touch on their website.
We’d like to send a huge thank you to StreetDoctors and of course the cast, crew and team behind the creative and execution:
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Cast Sam: Finn Kebbe Tina: Unique Spencer Paramedic: Nadine-Rose Johnson |
Crew Director: Thomas Paul Martin Director of Photography: Lee Jones Art Director: Tom Fuller Producer: Thomas Paul Martin & James Page Gaffer: Michael Spry Make up & hair: Ruth Pease Ambulance Services: TLO Film Services Editor: Thomas Paul Martin Motion Graphics: Tom Fuller Creative Strategists: Charlotte Harris, Ed Hardy & Don Mike |
SHARE the film with friends and family. Make sure every young person knows how to #ApplyPressure and save someone’s life.
DONATE to StreetDoctors. Help them reach more young people and empower them to be lifesavers in their communities. You can donate one-off or regularly.
BOOK a session. If you are working with young people at risk of youth violence and would like our volunteers to teach them lifesaving skills.
VOLUNTEER with StreetDoctors. They will be recruiting young or student healthcare professionals in August and September 2020.
