Tens of thousands of young people in Scotland ‘swipe’ to learn more about keeping safe

Fearless – the youth service of our charity - has reported a huge increase in young people engaging with their recent youth violence and weapon possession campaign.

In just a three-week period, over 33,000 young people in Scotland swiped from Fearless’ latest Snapchat campaign to our charity’s website at Fearless.org. Once there, young people were able to learn more about the common myths around weapon carrying, the law and listen to podcasts from people with lived experience of serious violence.

Dozens of intel reports were submitted 100% anonymously to our charity about people carrying weapons and those responsible for other serious crimes.

The campaign was launched in September at Eastbank Academy, Glasgow.

The highly successful Snapchat campaign content was designed entirely by a small group of young people from elsewhere in the city who volunteer with our charity.
 

"I'm delighted by the results of our youth violence campaign. It shows the sheer scale of young people’s willingness to engage, recognising that the issue of violence and weapon possession needs to improve and wanting to play their part in making their community safer.
 
"Young people have so much talent to offer. When we focus on a tiny fraction of young people making unsafe choices, it can be easy to forget that the vast majority want to be, and indeed are, part of the solution.
 
"Fearless provides a very clear call to action for young people. We make it easy to speak up about crime by providing a way to do so 100% anonymously through our website Fearless.org or by calling us on 0800 555 111. That means you don't need to worry about the stigma sometimes associated with reporting, potential retaliation and so on. We can't track your IP address or any contact details, so nobody will know the information came from you - but you will make lives safer.
 
"I am immensely proud of the service we offer at Fearless.org and how we empower young people in Scotland to feel confident speaking up about crime."

 
Lyndsay McDade, Crimestoppers Scotland National Youth Projects Coordinator
  

"I know people who are in gangs and have knives and stuff and I know someone my age who was stabbed in the summer.
 
“Something needs to be done and I cannae get rid of like the gangs or anything, but helping with this was fine. I'm really happy that there was a good response."
 
A young person involved in the design of the Snapchat content