Biffa / Wakefield Council

Creating award-winning campaigns that help keep young people safe

The Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit (VVU) works to protect young people from serious violence, criminal exploitation and other forms of harm. Bringing together partners from policing, local government, healthcare and education, the VVU delivers targeted interventions and public awareness campaigns designed to keep young people safe and support positive life choices.

Since 2023, Mobius has worked closely with the VVU to develop a range of behaviour-change campaigns, films and communication materials addressing some of the most complex issues facing young people across Essex. This long-term partnership has combined audience insight, powerful storytelling and targeted communications to engage both young people and the adults who support them.

Talk About Knives

One of the partnership’s most significant projects was Talk About Knives, a campaign developed using the real-life experiences of young people who had become involved in knife crime.

Reviewing transcripts from interviews with affected young people revealed a recurring theme: many had never discussed knives, peer pressure or personal safety with their parents or carers. This absence of open conversation emerged as an important contributing factor in the decisions that ultimately led them into harm.

Using these authentic accounts, we developed a series of four films designed to encourage meaningful conversations about knife crime within families. The campaign targeted both young people and parents, helping to challenge assumptions and create opportunities for earlier intervention.

The campaign received widespread recognition, winning:

• European Agency Awards – Gold, Best Use of Social Media (Not-for-Profit)
• The Drum Awards – Silver, Government and Public Sector
• BIMA Awards – Bronze, Digital Media

What Do You Talk to Your Children About?

Building on the success of Talk About Knives, the VVU commissioned a follow-on campaign focused specifically on parents and carers.

The campaign challenged the common perception that involvement in knife crime only affects young people from particular backgrounds or communities. Through two high-impact films and a supporting programme of outdoor advertising and social media activity, the campaign encouraged parents to recognise that any family can be
affected and highlighted the importance of open, ongoing conversations with children about risk, influence and personal safety.

VVU Awareness Films

To raise awareness of child exploitation and the support available through the VVU, we developed a series of three short films using a unique collaborative approach.

Working alongside film students from South Essex College, we invited young people to write and direct the films themselves. This ensured the stories were told from an authentic youth perspective while providing valuable real-world production experience for aspiring filmmakers.

With guidance and oversight from the Mobius team, the resulting films combined professional production standards with genuine insight into the experiences, pressures and challenges facing young people today.

Client Feedback

"The Essex VVU worked with Mobius on our knife harm campaign. They responded brilliantly to the brief to create films aimed at parents to educate them about knife harm. The creative was powerful, engaging and hit exactly the right tone.


We are incredibly proud of the films we created with Mobius and they have generated
exactly the response we wanted. This is definitely in part to the excellent work by Mobius. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend or work with them again in the future."

Katie Canning ((Communications and Marketing Lead))

Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit