8 Minutes to Save a Life campaign launches

On average it takes eight minutes for an ambulance to arrive at a stabbing incident. 8 Minutes to Save a Life centres around the fact that in those eight minutes you can potentially save someone’s life.

Collaborating with young influencers and connecting with current youth social trends the campaign uses Tiktok and Instagram as its primary platforms. The content focuses on 6 young, talented influencers who have made a series of short films based on what else they can do in 8 minutes if they ‘apply pressure’ to their chosen tasks.

The campaign has been created with youth marketing agency Livity and informed by a co-creation process directly involving young people affected by violence. Its aim is to give young people the knowledge they need to be able to act if they come across a victim of a knife attack, empowering them as the first responders on the scene

The young influencers films focus on their chosen challenges demonstrating their creativity in art (Shannon Royal and Kwame), basketball (Benji and Jet) and football (Lia and Eman).

8 Minutes to Save a Life is funded by the Government’s Coronavirus Community Support Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.

The films end with a clear instructional message on what young people can do in eight minutes to save the life of someone who has been stabbed with three key steps:

1. Call an ambulance
2. Check it is safe to help
3. Apply pressure to the wound

Lucie Russell, CEO of StreetDoctors said: “Violence affecting young people has not gone away during our successive lockdowns; tragically young people are still being seriously injured and killed on our streets. So it is really exciting to be collaborating with Livity in co-creation with young people affected by violence and these brilliant young creative influencers to create our 8 Minutes to Save a Life campaign. The content of the campaign innovatively combines entertainment with the issue of serious violence, and thus memorably communicates the core steps young people need to take to save the life of a knife attack victim.”

Eman, creative TikTok influencer said: “Working with Livity and StreetDoctors on this project has been great fun! Raising awareness for a very important message, whilst doing my favourite thing (creating content) is always amazing!” 

Kelsey Freeman, Creative Lead at Livity said: “Obviously, the work that StreetDoctors do is so necessary, but it also makes for an exciting creative brief. It was great to collaborate with a group of young people in the ideation phase of the project, and then again when making the work. It was important that we made fun, digestible content to talk about StreetDoctors messaging. In doing this, we can hopefully make some noise about the amazing work that StreetDoctors do and equip more young people with life-saving skills” 

Notes to editors

1. Watch the campaign video: https://youtu.be/sTgt1TsYdP0
2. Campaign webpage: https://streetdoctors.org/young-peoples-area/8-minutes-to-save-a-life/
3. Visit: #8MinutesToSaveALife on TikTok to watch the challenge videos by the young influencers
4. Campaign call to action: for people to watch and share the videos.
5. Press contact: Frances Breeveld, Communications and Policy Officer for StreetDoctors, frances@streetdoctors.org 07749 398614
6. About Livity: Livity is a youth marketing and design agency that works hand in hand with brands and the next generation to build the future better. Together they collaborate to do work that has never been done before, and make meaningful contributions on the world’s biggest issues. Visit: livity.co.uk
7. Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, has helped StreetDoctors and Livity create and run this campaign. Thanks to the Government for making this possible.