Respect and Relate set out to raise awareness of teenage relationship abuse, toxic relationships and domestic abuse. To do this, they developed a set of resources designed as conversation starters for youth groups and schools, aimed at Key Stage 3 and above. This allowed them to support the White Ribbon campaign while working together as a group on a meaningful cause.
Their work has already been recognised: the group won an award at The Key Awards 2025 for Social Action Superstars and won an award at the NE Youth Awards 2025.
Respect and Relate drew on their past experiences and conversations with partners such as Wearside Women in Need to tackle domestic violence, teenage domestic abuse, and toxic relationships. Some members of the group have had personal experiences with these issues and wanted to open conversations among young people to raise awareness, increase knowledge and equip them with strategies to recognise the signs and support others affected.
Katie, a member of the group, shared a bit about what inspired the project: “It was a lot of personal experiences… and when we did a podcast speaking about our experiences with it, we kind of got to thinking, young people are going through this now, people are getting into relationships younger and younger.”
“Younger people now have phones so it’s [also a] whole thing around social media.”
Through creating a domestic abuse handbook and resource cards, the group developed tools for facilitators to bring up these sensitive topics. They had thoughtful discussions about the impact of abuse on victims, perpetrators, families and the wider community. inspired by the documentary Stabbed at School, they even turned some of these conversations into a podcast:
The resource packs have already been shared with youth workers, mentors, coaching teams, and Foundation of Light school teams, and are being used in secondary schools, youth clubs, and workshops with NEET young people. The results have been powerful:
- One young person who previously had negative attitudes towards women embraced the messages and discussed the resources, instead of reacting negatively.
- Another group opened up about experiencing domestic abuse at home, triggering a disclosure and helping young people understand the issue more deeply.
Since being shared just two weeks ago, the group has delivered workshops to over 50 young people with more sessions planned. These workshops aim to encourage active bystanders and prevent young people from becoming involved in toxic relationships.
Katie explained how awareness can help prevent unhealthy relationships: “If people know the signs of an unhealthy relationship and know where its coming from if they spot another person… they might feel more at east talking to someone they know.”
“Young people need more detail than just ‘this is what it is’ and I think raising awareness of that will make people see the signs quicker and make them want to talk to someone.”
When we asked Kayla and Alex, other group members of Respect and Relate, what they most enjoyed about doing the project, they shared: “It’s really the community. There’s a lot of support.” And “It’s nice just to be involved in the community. I think just the people really and like getting the opportunity to volunteer and show people that, like, you can be more than what you grew up around.”
Katie said that seeing the resources being used in real settings “makes us feel really proud because it’s what we made the group for… Knowing that the group we formed is actually raising awareness that we wanted to, just makes me feel really proud about it.”
Through their dedication, Respect and Relate have shown how young people can use their voices, support their peers, and create meaningful change in their communities.
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The Key