ART AGAINST KNIVES

Name

ART AGAINST KNIVES

Legal name

ART AGAINST KNIVES

Website

https://artagainstknives.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Community Services (Charity)

NAICS

Nail Salons (812113), Fine Arts Schools (61161), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

akta.pro primary industry

Nail Repair & Enhancements (Fills/Overlay/Rebalance) (HSALACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration) (EDAAAGAA), Kids’ Nail Services (HSALACAK)

Keywords

• Youth violence prevention
• Creative youth services
• Community charity programmes
• Youth safe spaces
• Grassroots youth work

Headquarters

HQ city

City Of London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and public giving: Individual donations from the public, facilitated through the website and JustGiving campaigns. The organization runs periodic crowd funders (e.g., Spacehive) to save or expand physical spaces.
2. Charitable grants and institutional funding: Funding from institutional funders including the Mayor of London's Young Londoners Fund, Youth Music, Gucci Changemakers, and other named grant-making bodies.
3. Art sales and merchandise: Revenue from the Art Shop (artagainstknivesgallery.com), selling prints, tote bags, and other merchandise created by young artists. Proceeds fund ongoing running of creative spaces.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Art Against Knives is a UK-registered charity that operates three free creative safe spaces in Barnet, North London — The Lab (pop-up music studio), Elevate (nail salon and creative space for young women), and The Design Studio (nail bar and creative hub) — combined under the IN OUR HANDS Programme. Each space delivers creative activities (music production, nail services, design workshops) alongside embedded specialist youth work, including mentoring, domestic abuse support (IDVAs), violence prevention advice (YPVAs), housing and benefits assistance, and education/employment guidance, all provided free of charge to young people aged 10–25.

Product overview

ART AGAINST KNIVES is a charitable organization offering a portfolio of creative spaces and support programmes for young people aged 10-25 in Barnet, London. The core offering consists of three physical creative spaces — The Lab (music studio), Elevate (nail salon), and The Design Studio (nail bar and creative hub) — all providing free creative activities, specialist youth work support, and access to services including mentoring, domestic abuse support, housing assistance, and mental health services. These spaces operate under the IN OUR HANDS Programme, which is co-produced with young people. Additional services include the AAK Next Gen youth-led platform, the Gyal A Loud podcast, a referral system for partner organizations, and Grind Szn employment support workshops. The organization does not operate a technology product platform but rather delivers in-person youth services through these named spaces and programmes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Lab: Music studio space co-designed with local young people in 2015, providing space to write, record and produce music every Wednesday at N2 flagship space.
• Elevate
• The Design Studio
• AAK NEXT GEN

Products and services

• The Lab Pop-up music studio co-designed with young people, providing a free safe space every Wednesday to write, record, and produce music. Staffed by specialist youth workers who teach music production and offer personal development support. Targeted at socially excluded young people aged 10–25 in Barnet.
• Elevate Free professional nail salon and creative space for young women, operating every Tuesday at North Finchley town centre. Offers free nail services alongside creative activities and access to Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) and Young Persons Violence Advisor (YPVA) support as part of the IN OUR HANDS programme. Previously known as Vales Nails Nail Bar.
• The Design Studio Free nail bar and creative safe space providing creative activities, mentoring, YPVA/IDVA domestic abuse support, housing, benefits, school, and mental health and wellbeing support. Targeted at young women, girls, trans and non-binary people aged 10–25 in Colindale and West Borough of Barnet, including ages 10–16 and 17–25 strands, parents and caregivers, and those NEET.
• IN OUR HANDS Programme An umbrella programme delivering free creative safe spaces (nail bars and creative activities) with embedded specialist support: mentoring, YPVA/IDVA domestic abuse support, housing and benefits assistance, school support, and mental health and wellbeing services for young people aged 10–25 in Barnet.
• Referral System Formal referral process for partner organisations and professionals supporting young people aged 10–25 who can safely access AAK spaces in Barnet. Includes a downloadable information pack and online referral form sent to [email protected].

Quantifiable outcome

• 400+ young people supported annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Youth RealitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNW9 Nails is a partnership between Art Against Knives, Youth Realities, and MAC UK. Together they offer creative activities and specialist access to mentoring, including YPVA/IDVA domestic abuse support, housing, benefits, school support, and mental health and wellbeing services for young people aged 10-25 in Colindale and West Borough of Barnet.
• MAC UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNW9 Nails is a partnership between Art Against Knives, Youth Realities, and MAC UK. MAC UK and AAK also share a joint CEO transition and close strategic collaboration. Dr Sally Zlotowitz, previously Director of Public Health and Prevention at MAC-UK, became AAK's new CEO in 2020. AAK and MAC-UK are close collaborators working to prevent violence and promote safety with excluded young people.
• ApplecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt Against Knives partnered with Apple for 12 months (from early 2021) to launch an in-house podcast series, including a 'Digital Hustle' virtual summer programme curated with GUAP, producing a digital magazine and podcast. Also partnered with Apple on AI Hackathon as part of Meet and Code Week.
• Emperor Design AgencyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmperor Design Agency partnered with Art Against Knives to create the Emperor X Twist art print collection (26 alphabet prints and 10 number prints), curated by Fedrigoni and Twist Print.
• Nike UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNike UK trainers hosted a strength and conditioning workshop at Art Against Knives' Combat Academy.
• Converse — Spark Progress CampaignminorOthersArt Against Knives participated in Converse's #SparkProgress campaign, with young people designing creative activities across spaces in response to the theme 'LOVE', including dance workshops, pop-up music sessions, and design competitions.
• Live UnlimitedminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Live Unlimited on the 'Sound Lives' music project for young carers / care leavers from across Barnet, which ran successfully in summer 2023 and was re-launched in 2025.
• NHScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with NHS supporting a Young Black Men's Mental Health Project — a new initiative led by a Senior Youth Worker co-produced with young people, exploring the needs of young black men aged 10-25, mapping existing services, and making recommendations for wider systems change in Barnet.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Catch22: Large UK social-purpose organisation running youth-justice, violence-prevention and education programmes nationwide; competes with AAK for local-authority contracts but at much greater scale.
• St Giles Trust: Major UK charity supporting disadvantaged people including those affected by violence, gang activity and exploitation — directly comparable beneficiary group but with national reach.
• London Youth: Membership body for youth organisations in London that has run sector awards recognising AAK practitioners; comparable operating geography and beneficiary base.

Direct peers

• MAC-UK: UK charity working to prevent violence and promote safety with excluded young people using co-produced, trauma-informed approaches; AAK's closest strategic collaborator and source of its current CEO.
• Youth Realities: Co-delivery partner of AAK's NW9 Nails / In Our Hands programme; a small UK youth charity offering therapeutic and creative support to vulnerable young people with directly overlapping methodology and geography.
• Safer London Foundation: London charity focused specifically on reducing youth violence through mentoring and therapeutic support — directly overlapping mission, geography, and beneficiary group.
• Leaders Unlocked: UK not-for-profit that places young people at the centre of public-service design — overlapping methodology of youth-led, co-produced social change.
• Leap Confronting Conflict: UK charity using conflict-resolution and youth work with marginalised 11-25-year-olds; established awards body for AAK staff and a directly comparable practitioner organisation.

Others

• Youth Music: National funder investing in music-making for young people; AAK's The Lab has been funded by Youth Music for a decade — relevant primarily as ecosystem funder/co-host of events.

Regional players

• Key 4 Youth: Youth-support services operating on a similar community-engagement model for vulnerable young people in the UK; relevant as a peer operator but with a regional rather than London focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/artagainstknives
• YouTubesoundcloud.com/the-lab-aak
• Instagraminstagram.com/artagainstknives
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/art-against-knives

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ART AGAINST KNIVES