NKBL Peer Ed Event, Gangnam Style, and Giant Dinosaurs

By Simon Atkins

Last Saturday we had a great time working with Sonal in holding a large event in Glasgow for No Knives, Better Lives. The event was aimed at celebrating the commitments of young people across Scotland in making their communities safer places to live.

About 70 young peer educators and local area workers across Scotland came together and shared their learning and experiences of working with young people in delivering NKBL sessions. There were some fantastic creative workshops led by Strangetown youth theatre and a film by Medics Against Violence, and the young people also led activities for their peers, sharing ideas and inspiration. Meanwhile youth workers had the opportunity to discuss their experiences and learn more about the Scottish Peer Education Network (SPEN) in an informal workshop led by Rona here at Fast Forward.

At lunch time, the young people attending were surprised to be treated to a flash mob, when the youth workers suddenly stood up one by one and began dancing to Summer Nights from the musical Grease. As more youth workers joined in, the music moved through Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, Gangnam Style, and climaxed with fully synchronised dancing to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. Glee club –eat your heart out.

Also at the event was a giant interactive jigsaw puzzle that spelled out No Knives, Better Lives. Young people were given large pieces of the puzzle to decorate in any way they wanted using paint pens, and then put together in the puzzle frame. Many thanks to Glasgow’s Maklab for creating this fine piece of work – We would recommend them for any of your laser-cutting needs. (They can even make a giant dinosaur skeleton for you.)

Sonal Raithatha, Fast Forward’s peer education coordinator who runs the project said: “It was a really exciting event and a great opportunity to highlight all of the fantastic work young people and youth workers are doing to prevent violence in our communities. It’s great to see young people being recognised as part of the solution.”

Take a look at the photos of the event and tell us if you recognise anybody!

A big shout out to the young volunteers and delegates from The Arc, St. Mungo’s, Renfrewshire Youth Voice, WHEC, The Citadel, Tullochan Trust, Y Sort It, and the wonderful people who attended from North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Clackmannanshire and West Dunbartonshire, as well as photographer Jack Driver. We look forward to seeing you all again!