Welcome
to the Palace Project,
Here
we're striving to provide opportunities for young
people and the community on the Palace Road Estate,
Streatham Hill, London SW2. These opportunities
many in community wouldn't normally be able to afford
and include drama and dance classes, music lessons,
IT courses, film-making, sports, radio and media
production to name but a few. For others the Palace
provides a sociable, family environment. For instance,
we're aiming to provide a daytime club for elderly
members of the community, where they can reminise
by watching old films, seek advice or just have
a friendly chat with someone.
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We
also provide a voice to people who normally wouldn't be
heard much further than the end of their street. For instance
in response to the tragic deaths in early 2007 of several
young people in our area through gun crime, the young
people wanted to make a film. They wanted to make a fast
direct response to news headlines stating that the borough
was a crime capital, with teens out of control, and handguns
the street weapon of choice.
A
week later Fast Train to Fool City
was completed. A professionally produced documentary it
features contributions from musicians, artists and over
one hundred Lambeth teenagers. It features interviews
with real life gun offenders and victims as well as numerous
local authorities including a surgeon who has extensive
experience in treating gunshot injuries.
It
has since been taken up by the Lambeth Police and distributed
to every school in the Borough. Plans are underway for
it to be shown Nationally and everyone agrees it will
ultimately save young peoples' lives. Not just in terms
of gun crime victims, but also those young people who
carry and use guns without putting much thought into the
consequences and then have to waste many years of their
lives serving long prison terms.
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