About Beyond the Blades
Beyond the Blades was born within a project – The London Peer Action Collective – and has now grown in to a movement, an entity, a motion.
The Beyond the Blades movement consists of peer research findings, workshops, resources and art that is calling for change.
Young people need us to see beyond the blades and take a holistic and trauma-informed approach to solving youth violence.
We’ve created the Beyond the Blades Magazine, which captures the work of the London Peer Action Collective that took place from November 2023 to September 2025. But it doesn’t end there.
Now, we’re collaborating with policy makers, schools, the third sector and even more young people to create the change that hundreds of voices called for through the work.
We have a responsibility to be the vessel for that change.
But we can’t do it alone.
Interested in becoming a part of the Beyond the Blades movement? Email [email protected].
Who are we?
We are a group of young people fighting for justice, for equality, for peace. We don’t always do this by shouting or protesting.
We create change by listening, trying to understand, creating space for different perspectives, and using our own knowledge and expertise to amplify the voices of our fellow young people who might not have the tools or space to make change.
We will never solve youth violence without understanding and giving power to young people.
As part of our work to give a voice to other young people, we have conducted in-depth research to understand their opinions, experiences and ideas for change.
We then turned these research findings into social action to promote change with and for young people within our community.
On this page you will find:
- The Beyond the Blades magazine
- Beyond the Blades posters to be used in schools:
– The Better Exclusion Journey
– How Can Schools Protect Young People from Youth Violence?
– 15 Principles for Good Youth Mental Health Interventions - The trailer for our interactive film, XCLUDED
- Our research findings on what support young people need around school exclusions to protect them from youth violence
The biggest problem is that as young people we don’t feel heard or understood.
The London Peer Action Collective Team
About Peer Action Collective (PAC)
Through the Peer Action Collective (PAC), young people are working to make their communities safer, fairer places to live across the UK.
Funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, the #iwill Fund (a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport) and the Co-op, the PAC is here to support young people to take the lead.
PAC is a ground-breaking network of Peer Researchers, Social Action Leads and Changemakers across England and Wales. Young people with lived experience of violence find out what needs to happen to make their area a better place to live and turn these insights into action.
Since the PAC network started in 2021, the programme has involved more than 12,000 young people through research or social action.
Read more on the PAC project page.
Beyond the Blades resources
Xcluded interactive film trailer
Discover XCLUDED – an interactive film that challenges how we view school exclusions and youth violence. Co-created with over 50 young people from Tottenham, XCLUDED follows Heaven as she navigates critical choices that shape her future.
Based on in-depth research capturing the voices and lived experiences of London’s youth, this film brings real stories to life, sparking dialogue and inspiring change in education and community support systems. Watch the trailer now and join us on a journey that’s as much about empowerment as it is about understanding the challenges faced by young people today.
Your voice matters – help us create a safer, more inclusive future.
I can’t believe you’ve got these boys talking about mental health and gangs. You never would have had this in a classroom.
Football coach
PAC blogs
Enquire about working with us
Looking for a mental health research partner with expertise in peer research? We can help with training, public involvement work, hosting and more.
