15 young people aged 12 to 18 created their own music and recorded them onto a CD. This was supposed to be the end of the activity but with great sadness one of the young people involved was tragically murdered and the rest of the group asked if they could produce a CD in her memory, using the photos, lyrics and songs from this activity.
A name was suggested by one of the group, LUSH (Learning Up on Sexual Health) and so a new project was established. The group asked to turn their music into a memorial CD to their friend and this progressed into the creation of a multi-media peer education programme, that they would deliver themselves focusing on relationships and informed decisions.
LUSH was launched to local secondary schools but again the young people encountered difficulties in progressing this creative approach to peer led education, so they responded, as usual, with bigger and better ideas. The group created a series of films and a workbook and we took it to a publisher to consider print. The final wall that they hit was the publishers informing us that because all but 1 of the young people were of a similar ethnicity this wouldn’t be a publication that they believe would sell in large numbers across the UK. So ended a 4 year journey for our young people and LUSH.