People
Oliver Hemsley – Founder
On the 28th August 2008 Oliver was stabbed by a gang of youths. After spending 330 days in hospital, Art Against Knives was born. Oliver, 23, left hospital and is now back at Central St Martins.
Katy Dawe – Founder
Young Achiever of the Year 2009
Katy, 23, is the driving force behind Art Against Knives. Katy is now back at Central St Martins’, after taking a year out to start up AAK and now continues to lead it’s growth.
Richard Danks – Development
Richard, 23, spends his days working for one of the UK’s leading brand strategists and his evenings planning the growth and development of Art Against Knives.
Cheryl Babajee- AAK Operations Manager
Cheryl, 25 has volunteered for AAK for over a year- she is the reason we can run from day to day!
Jo Ritchie- Gallery Manager
Jo, 22, is the manager of Art Against Knives Gallery at BoxPark, Shoreditch.
Kirsty Alan – OurSpace project co-ordinator
Kirsty, 24, manages our youth-led initiative, OurSpace. Having recently joined us after graduating from SOAS and volunteering for the Young Foundation she is now a full time volunteer, continuing to take our projects forward, and no doubt far.
Alex Sprogis – OurSpace designer
As a recent architecture graduate from the Bartlett, Alex is involved with designing and planning an ideal project space. Most recently Alex has designed our new gallery in a metal container, you can find it @BoxPark, Shoreditch.
Jack Joslin – Fundraising
Jack has recently joined the team to support us in our applications to funding from trusts and grants. He is about to run the London Marathon for us too!






