St Mary’s Students to Contribute to Youth Crimes Conference

Drama and Applied Theatre students at St Mary’s University, Twickenham will take part in the Youth Crimes Conference (YCC) hosted by Richmond Borough Council on Thursday 27th March. The YCC is an event that sees 14 and 15-year-olds come together to discuss issues that relate to their age group, with a particular focus on crime. It is the fourth time that St Mary’s students will be involved in the event, creating theatre pieces that will include the young people at the conference. This year’s theme will centre on going to a party for the first time and the risks that may be involved. The session will then go on to discuss familiar forms of online bullying, peer pressure and young people being exposed to alcohol and drugs. Programme Director for Drama and Applied Theatre Patsy Gilbert said, “We’re delighted to be working with Richmond Borough Police on the Youth Crime Conference for the fourth year running. “Our previous sessions have really helped us to support the great work they are doing with young people and their very real concerns about criminal activity and self-advocacy. We’ve learned a huge amount from working with them and the Applied Theatre students involved have commented every year on how exciting it is to use Drama in such an obviously effective way.”