Keep the Door Open:
A campaign to
protect futures
A research-driven anti-knife crime campaign that challenged perceptions, shifted attitudes and delivered measurable behaviour change among young people.
The brief (in brief)
The West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership appointed Resource to develop a behaviour change campaign that would engage young people aged 11-25 and challenge perceptions around knife carrying.
The campaign needed to increase awareness that carrying a knife can actually increase the likelihood of harm, encourage safer decision-making, and create measurable changes in attitudes and perceptions across the region.
Our approach
We carried out extensive research, including workshops with young people from communities most affected by knife crime, individuals with lived experience, desk-based research and pre-campaign surveys to help us build a deeper understanding of the motivations, concerns and perceptions influencing knife-carrying behaviour.
One of the most important findings was that young people responded poorly to shock tactics. Instead, they connected more strongly with messages focused on protecting their future opportunities, ambitions and relationships.
Following the development of multiple creative routes, we conducted tests with sample groups of the target audience. The strongest response came from a campaign built around a simple but powerful message: carrying a knife can close doors to future opportunities. This became the basis of our Keep the Door Open campaign.
To bring the message to life, we partnered with a Leeds-based artist to create an original track inspired by the themes and experiences identified during the research phase.
The important stuff
The six-week campaign exceeded expectations, delivering significant reach and measurable changes in audience attitudes. Evaluation was carried out using pre- and post-campaign surveys, media performance data, website analytics and social media reporting.
Most importantly, the campaign achieved its core objective of shifting perceptions around knife carrying.
of campaign viewers said the content changed the way they think about carrying a knife.
of survey respondents stated they would not carry a knife.
increase in young people who viewed carrying a knife as unsafe.
ncrease in understanding that carrying a knife increases the risk of harm rather than providing protection.
Media coverage included regional and national outlets such as the BBC, ITV, Yorkshire Evening Post, Greatest Hits Radio and The Telegraph & Argus. Additional reach was generated through organic social sharing by celebrity and actress Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury, Netflix’s Bridgerton tv series), helping amplify the campaign message to wider audiences.
The campaign also delivered strong engagement and awareness metrics:
- 5.5 million paid social impressions.
- 13,846 organic social impressions.
- 8,427 visits to the campaign landing page.
- 13 pieces of media coverage.
- £0.19 cost per click.
- 0.45% click-through rate.
By combining audience insight, authentic creative and a targeted multi-channel delivery strategy, Keep the Door Open demonstrated how trauma-informed communications can successfully challenge perceptions, influence attitudes and create meaningful behaviour change at scale.