Ogilvy and London Village Network team up to fight knife crime

Posted on Mar 17, 2016

Ogilvy and London Village Network team up to fight knife crime News Post Image

 

For the last three years we have had a partnership with the team at Ogilvy Change, which contributes behaviour change services to three of our causes per year. We have since expanded our partnership with Ogilvy to collaborate with a broader range of their specialist teams. This has included a unique opportunity for one of our causes to work with OgilvyOne and School21 as part of a real world learning project.

As part of this project three Year 10 students from School21 joined OgilvyOne as interns for a total of 16 weeks and their group choose to work with London Village Network (LVN). The students were given a brief to create and launch a social media campaign for LVN. And H&O and Ogilvy Change also got involved in bringing the campaign to life and maximising its impact. 

Today they launched a hard hitting social media campaignto drive awareness and act as a deterrent against young people getting involved with knife crime. The purpose of the campaign is to show young people the harsh reality of prison life and to then explain that LVN is there to support young people to make better choices.

"It is terrifying to think that a split-second, impulsive decision - to carry a knife - can cause such appalling consequences for so many people. If there is one decision which behavioural science should aspire to change, it is this one," Said Rory Sutherland Executive Creative Director of OgilvyOne and co-founder of the Behavioural Sciences Practice.

Featuring in the video (above) is a 44 year old man who spent 21 years in prison for knife crime. He talks honestly about his regrets and what life in prison is really like, warning young people not to make the same mistake.

Knife crime is on the rise in London, in 2015, the number of fatal stabbings in London reached its highest level in seven years. It’s a trend that needs to be reversed before it grows out of control. London Village Network is a new grass roots charity that is determined to stop this from becoming an inevitable part of London life. It was founded by two women from within an estate community who were ready to make a stand, help give these young people self-worth and communicate the true consequences of knife crime, helping our youth to see and explore the choices around.  Since 2015 the charity has excelled all expectations and the youth engagement has been a huge success. 

LVN’s campaign with OgilvyOne and School21 asks Londoners to ‘Get Involved’ and show young people that they have a choice. The main request is for 3 hours of your time but there are lots of ways to help including offering venue space, providing much needed funds or uploading your inspirational story on social media using #myLVNpledge #LVNStopTheKnife.

“We need volunteers to come and talk to small groups of young people about what you do. It might sound very basic, but you’ll be amazed at the influence it can have on someone who doesn’t normally get to meet adults with regular jobs” Said Liz Izzet Co-Founder of LVN. “We want you to be natural, honest and authentic, so there is no format to follow or rules about what to say. You may have been passionate about your field of work from a young age or you may have fallen into it by chance – either way we just want to hear the story about how you got your job and what’s good about it.”

Young Londoners have a choice. LVN’s purpose is to support young people to make better choices, with help from the London community.

Young people can attend their afternoon and evening sessions to be part of a positive network. 

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