Blackburn author and educator Christina Gabbitas has received a national special achievement award for her work helping young people speak out about county lines exploitation and knife crime.
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The People’s Book Prize has recognised Christina’s work with young people since 2019, including her efforts to push for better education in schools about the issue.
The award also includes a special mention for Listen Up, a poetry and lyric book featuring 45 poems and lyrics from young people. The collection focuses on county lines exploitation and the knife crime linked to it.
Judges from The People’s Book Prize said Christina’s work had “successfully blended creativity with literature” and turned it into “a powerful tool for education and prevention” through partnerships with police forces.
They said she had been “instrumental” in delivering workshops in schools and that “thousands of young people” had taken part.
Christina said: “This award is truly an honour as it highlights the contributions of young people, amplifying their voices, especially those who have faced exploitation. I firmly believe in empowering children and young people to express themselves, and this initiative has successfully achieved that goal. What makes this even more gratifying is that it has been partially funded by proceeds of crime.”
She said the project began after a student shared a poem during a collaborative session with Christina and the policing team, which sparked the idea for the initiative.
Brayden Hartley from Blackburn had his poem published in the anthology. He was one of 40 young people featured and the only Lancashire poet in the book.
Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of the Council, said: “Congratulations to Christina, this is a well-deserved award. We appreciate all that she does to inspire children and young people in literature. County lines and knife crime are important topics that need awareness and to engage young people in this way is commendable. Everyone at BwD is also really proud of Brayden and it’s great to see his work highlighted in the anthology.”
Pastor Lorraine Jones Burrell MBE, who lost her son to a fatal stabbing and set up the Dwayne Simpson Foundation in his memory, said: “Christina’s Knowledge and spirit bringing emergency services and youth organisations to work together better is exceptional. This dynamic competition through creative writing is both rewarding and educationally empowering to all who read.”
Young people can enter a poem or story for Christina’s Listen Up 2 until 30 June. Prizes are £500 for first, £250 for second and £150 for third. More details are available at https://missingstory.co.uk/competition/.
