Student’s pride after youth campaign wins national award

A student at an Archway Learning Trust school has spoken of his pride after being part of a Derby-wide anti-misogyny youth campaign, which has won national recognition.

Kaiden Doyle, a year 11 student at Alvaston Moor Academy, was part of the hard-hitting ‘Derby White Ribbon’ campaign aimed at tackling the issue of violence against women and girls.

The campaign was put together by Derby Youth Council, of which Kaiden is a member, and involved a powerful video illustrating a group of boys acting in various inappropriate ways towards girls.

The different types of inappropriate behaviours are then seen to be ‘called out’ by one of the young men, with the aim of the film to ‘change the story’ around certain types of inappropriate behaviour.

As part of the campaign, young Derby school students, including Kaiden, made thousands of white ribbons, which were distributed among teenagers across the city.

The video was released on White Ribbon Day last November, a day when men and boys show their commitment to ending violence against women and girls.

The Derby White Ribbon Campaign was nominated for the National Crimebeat awards, a prestigious annual awards ceremony recognising the most innovative and successful crime prevention projects carried out by young people aged between five and 25 years old.

Kaiden was one of a group of young people from the campaign who travelled to London where their hard-hitting and far-reaching project was named a prize-winner, scooping £1,000.

Derby’s prize-winning awareness video was produced along with Derby Theatre, which provided funding along with Derby City Council, Derby Youth Alliance and Community Action Derby.

The video features Joe Wildsmith from Derby County, Wayne Madsen from Derbyshire County Cricket Club and local music artist Scriptz. It was produced by Derby-based Goldbox Productions.

The video has been viewed thousands of times and was streamed to every secondary school in Derby.

Speaking after the awards ceremony, Kaiden said: “I felt really proud. “I was really proud of the people around me too.

“It felt really impressive because our voice had made an impact. To have been nominated and to go to London showed us that our impact was big.

“Misogyny is a really serious issue. I grew up around women and I’ve seen the effect misogyny has had, how there are differences between how men and women are treated, and it has really made me want to be part of something to tackle that.”

Outgoing academy principal Michelle Strong said: “We are all so proud of Kaiden and the whole of the Derby Youth Council who have won this brilliant national prize, and recognition, for their white ribbon campaign and video.

“It tackles such a serious issue and I commend these young people for their efforts in bringing these matters to a wider audience.

“It’s so important for young people to see their peers being brave enough to talk about matters such as these, and to call out misogynistic behaviours, and I am very happy that one of our students was able to play such an important role in this campaign. We should all be very proud of what these young people have achieved.”