Dan’s work went on to receive the Creative Conscience 2025 Global Award – the charity’s highest honour for creative solutions to social and environmental challenges.
Dan's project is a prototype campaign designed to address knife crime through first-aid education and health-focused interventions. It aims to educate in first aid and save the lives of those who have been injured by knife crime.
#PatchTheSlash partners with fashion and household brands to distribute clear, life-saving guides and medical-grade resources through “This Poster Saves Lives” that help treat stab wounds in the critical moments before paramedics arrive.
In discussing the deeper purpose behind the campaign, Dan said:
“Knife crime is so much more than violence. It’s about acknowledging fear, heartbreak, and anger. The life-ending choice of carrying a knife is made by a vulnerable heart, so our ideas need to heal the heart and not punish it further. Hope and second chances are incredibly powerful, and I think we would be surprised of the knife free future we can create when we hope together.”
The campaign also includes This App Saves Lives, which provides digital first aid guides, accessibility features, and the locations of nearby posters. It can store medical information for first responders and aims to empower friends, families, knife carriers, and bystanders to act quickly and save lives.
Dan hopes that #PatchTheSlash can gain support to launch it in the real world. He graduated with a degree from Loughborough in Graphic Design earlier this year.
Find out more about #PatchTheSlash and how you can get involved.