Guildford Shakespeare Company Expands Knife Crime Program PUT UP YOUR SWORDS

As Guildford Shakespeare Company celebrate 20 years of creating bold and accessible theatre, they mark this important milestone by shining a light on their long-standing commitment to community and education work. At the forefront of this is Put Up Your Swords, GSC's flagship knife crime awareness programme for young people, that was a project born not from strategy, but from lived experience in the local community.

Put Up Your Swords is an eight-week knife crime awareness programme for Year 9 students, delivered in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, the University of Surrey, Fearless/Crimestoppers and specialist charities including the Kiyan Prince Foundation and Charlie's Promise. Using Romeo and Juliet as a framework, the programme invites young people, in a supported environment, to engage with the realities of knife crime, and explore better outcomes. Students take part in drama workshops, professional stage combat sessions, talks from guest speakers with lived experience, and a simulated court case at the University of Surrey, where Romeo is put on trial.

Knife crime was not something GSC initially set out to address. In 2023, a young person was stabbed in a park near their offices in Guildford and airlifted to hospital. The incident transformed knife crime from an abstract headline into an immediate and urgent reality, prompting them to ask what responsibility they have as storytellers when working with young people. Put Up Your Swords was later formed in 2024, when developing a production of Romeo and Juliet and GSC made the decision to offer a programme of more meaningful connection for the young people involved.

What makes Put Up Your Swords distinctive is that it fundamentally shifts young people from passive listening to active participation. Rather than being told what not to do, students are empowered to reflect and rehearse safer choices in a creative and supportive environment.

To date, Put Up Your Swords has reached more than 2,000 young people across six Surrey schools, with independent evaluation demonstrating a significant impact on students' knowledge and attitudes around knife crime. By the end of the programme, 83% of students understood that carrying a knife does not make them safer, up from 50% at the start, while 74% knew where to access support, compared with 35% before the programme. In addition, 78% of participants felt confident to make safer choices, and at Christ's College, willingness to report knife crime increased dramatically from just 18% to 82%, reflecting a substantial shift in trust. Teacher feedback reinforced these findings, with all respondents affirming the programme as worthwhile and impactful, and many noting that it engaged students who typically struggle in more traditional classroom settings.

At a time when many theatre organisations outside London face increasing financial pressure, GSC's continued growth over 20 years is closely linked to its ability to embed itself meaningfully within its local community. Programmes such as Put Up Your Swords demonstrate how theatre can function not only as entertainment, but as social change.

GSC's Creative Learning Producer, Kerrie Driscoll comments, Too many young people face life-changing consequences because they didn't believe they had safer choices. That's why working hand-in-hand with partner organisations, schools, local authorities, and our wider community is vital. Together, we can provide the guidance and real alternatives that help young people step away from danger and reduce the devastating impact of knife-related violence.

GSC now plan to expand the project's reach and impact by working with more schools across the county and beyond.

If you would like to get involved in the next phase of Put Up Your Swords, or wish to know more, contact GSC's Creative Learning Producer, Kerrie Driscoll.