The insidious problem of knife crime, county lines and child criminal exploitation is affecting many of our young people, and destroying lives, families and communities. As such, for maximum effect and impact, CODE and our youth engagement programme are part of a multi-agency approach of intervention and distraction to tackle and raise awareness of these issues. Our programme also confronts inequality of access to quality youth arts provision in under-served areas.

We will tour CODE, a large outdoor physical theatre show that uses elements of parkour, rap music and trials bikes to highlight the issues around county lines and knife crime, in a way that makes it particularly appealing to young people. Alongside the production, we have also developed a suite of engagement activities that provide rich development opportunities for beneficiaries including classroom and education resources, a dedicated ‘app’, creative residencies and workshops.