Heartspoken
Sarah Lloyd
Recent Enterprise Scholar
During her academic journey at the University of Leeds, Sarah achieved her BA in Professional Studies and is now studying for an MA in Social Research. Sarah was also awarded a Spark Enterprise Scholarship in 2022/23.
Sarah was also chosen by Spark to go to a business bootcamp in Beijing China, attended by entrepreneurs from around the Globe!
“This was an amazing experience and gave me the skills and confidence to set up my own Social Enterprise Families After Murder (F.A.M) delivering knife crime awareness talks and workshops within educational settings within Schools, Colleges, and community settings.”
Sarah Lloyd
Heartspoken
Having lost a child to knife crime herself, Sarah has used her own tragic experience and tried to stop anyone else having to go through the same thing. Sarah has been raising awareness of knife crime for almost ten years, creating learning resources throughout her academic journey that she can deliver to young people in collaboration with Local Government Authorities, Educational institutes and third sector organisations.
Knife crime is a current social issue regarded as a safeguarding priority for children and young people, as incidents involving knives are continuing to increase. ONS statistics reported 37,766 incidents in the year ending September 2021 and a 21% increase in the year ending September 2022, with 45,639 incidents, many of which both victims and perpetrators are aged between 10 – 17 years old.
On completing her undergraduate degree, Sarah has continued to work closely with Spark, and whilst attending a Spark event she met the former Enterprise Scholar, Owen Seabrook. Owen and his business Tell Studio produced Sarah’s E-Book and Audio Book, ‘Life without Kie’, funded by Spark which is available to buy on amazon and free to listen to on YouTube.
This is now used as a valuable resource within her presentations to help young people understand the impact of violent loss.
In order to enable Sarah’s work to reach a wider audience, she is again working in collaboration with Owen and Tell Studio to produce a documentary to be used as an educational resource on knife crime, gang involvement and criminal exploitation. This resource will be used alongside a teacher training package, meaning that schools can competently deliver the workshops in house. Sarah is currently promoting the documentary on local radio stations, contacting schools and colleges, and attending networking events.
Sarah is also working closely with an ex-gang member young man who is currently completing his undergraduate degree. This support includes training on how to deliver lived experience sessions within her initiatives, including awareness days within Leeds City College.
The documentary is close to completion with an official launch planned for October closely followed by entry into film festivals for consideration.
