Our Story So Far
Debra Knight is the Co-founder and CEO of Queen’s Award-winning and Luton’s longest-serving community interest company, NINE RED Presents…(CIC), a social enterprise built through creativity, courage and service.
What began with a vision in 2003 became a philosophy, a way of life and, in 2006, an incorporated community interest company operating in a business environment for a socially useful purpose.
Through challenge, persistence and imagination, tiny seeds planted many years ago have grown into a body of work spanning healing, heritage, exhibitions, performance, public engagement and cultural change.
Our story is rooted in creative practice, community care and the belief that art can help people heal, connect, reflect and grow.
“At the edge of a high street, by a bridge with a ball, there is a place on earth, where numbers fall. Within that space where fate resides, NINE RED Presents…(CIC), came alive.”Naz Knight
At your service
NINE RED Presents…(CIC) was created around a simple but powerful belief: that every individual in society, irrespective of race, ethnic origin, gender, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, creed, disability, age, religion or political belief, has the right to be and to achieve all they want in their lives.
The organisation began as a small group with two projects: The AVS Project (Abuse Victim Support) and Diverse Britain, responding to the needs of Caribbean women while also highlighting the positive contributions that Africa and the Caribbean have made to Britain.
There have been challenges and difficulties, and at times the journey has felt like a little boat adrift in a large ocean. Yet the work endured. The seeds planted years ago continued to grow, and what looked small from the outside became a force for resilience, culture, healing and public memory.
The mosquito principle
Sometimes, when you feel too small to matter, it helps to remember what it is like to try to sleep in a room with a mosquito.
NINE RED Presents…(CIC) is that mosquito: not allowing change to sleep, not allowing society to fall into inertia. Small in scale perhaps, but persistent in impact; and, like tiny drops of water carving stone, capable of shaping something larger over time.
This is a legacy built not through noise alone, but through endurance, imagination and a refusal to accept stillness where change is needed.
Why Art Undefined
In the early years of NINE RED, there was continual pressure from arts organisations, funders and commercial partners to define the work narrowly, fit into a box and target a fixed audience. But the practice was multi-faceted from the beginning, crossing genres, industries and communities in ways that could not be neatly contained.
Art Undefined became the only truthful description. It reflects a way of working that resists labels, challenges preconceptions and encourages audiences to see beyond categories; to see other people’s worlds, and to see individuals as whole beings rather than as labels assigned to them.
Art Undefined is not just a concept or a slogan. It is the essence of who we are, what we create and how we work.
Symbols of the work
The language of NINE RED Presents…(CIC) and Art Undefined lives through a rich visual archive of logos, project materials, exhibitions and installations built over many years.
Think Art. Think Therapy. Think NINE RED.
Think Art
The artistic practice is a compilation of art forms from around the world and crosses music, dance, drama, spoken word, poetry, visual, digital and graphic art. At its core, it is interdisciplinary work that fuses sound, colour and movement into a shared expressive language.
Think Therapy
As a community interest company, profits are used to help support people affected by domestic or sexual violence, mild-to-moderate mental health conditions, social or material disadvantage and cultural deprivation. Art is treated as medicine: a route toward confidence, self-esteem, recovery and emotional regulation.
Think NINE RED
The organisation responds directly to community need. Projects arise because people need them, and they are designed to catch individuals before they fall. The result is a body of work where public art, performance, healing and participation are brought together with social purpose.
Embracing courage through encounters
One of the stories that continues to inspire this journey begins with a childhood encounter with local football legend Ricky Hill. Encouraged by older cousins to ask for an autograph, Debra approached him with hesitation, only to be met with warmth, kindness and a lesson that stayed for life.
When the signed card was dismissed by others because it had her own name on it, Ricky Hill gently reframed the moment: it was hers because she had bravely gone to ask for it. That lesson — to walk your own path — became a guiding principle.
It is a story about courage, initiative, identity and self-belief, and a reminder that the most powerful turning points can begin with one small act of bravery.
From Snapshot to Soul Craft
Another key story begins with a single photograph. Standing beside Kelvin Hopkins MP during a campaign trail unexpectedly opened a path into the arts, leading to a meeting with Andrew Grays of Luton Culture and, from there, a growing body of opportunities.
That encounter became one of those moments when destiny appears not as a finished path, but as a narrow opening that must be recognised and used. Through collaboration, persistence and practice, those moments became stepping stones toward Debra’s role as Poetry Champion for Bedfordshire.
It is a story of how words can connect, inspire and transform, not only for the writer, but for the people and communities touched by the work.
Selected visual history
These images offer a glimpse into the visual history of NINE RED Presents…(CIC), documenting public artworks, exhibitions, graphics and cultural activations developed across the years.
Art in Athletics
Pilgrims’ Poetry Walking Workshops, Squash It! and related activities show how creativity and movement can work together to support wellbeing, resilience, confidence and community connection.
London 2012 Paralympics
Debra’s role in the London 2012 Paralympic Closing Ceremony reflects a commitment to leading by example — stepping into visibility, embracing new challenges and showing how courage can open new doors.
Parkfest!
Parkfest is a party with a purpose: a community arts, culture and wellbeing event that celebrates local talent, supports survivors and brings people together through shared joy.
Exhibitions, installations and public projects
DAMSEL Carnival Band
Carnival as visibility, colour, play and public storytelling, linked to the AVS Project and survivor-led creative expression.
Luton International Carnival
Anniversary exhibition work celebrating carnival history, manufacturing heritage and the cultural life of Luton.
16 Days of Action
“Our House” art installation and touring work exploring domestic and sexual violence through public creative intervention.
Luton Celebrates
Installation, documentary and performance celebrating local history, industry, community identity and cultural aspiration.
Lea Manor Projects
Enrichment-day cultural installations and digital art projects created with young people and schools.
Lealands High School BHM
Seminar, exhibition and workshop activity exploring Black British history, innovation, identity and contribution.
Love Luton 2012
Exhibition and spoken-word performance celebrating culture, diversity and the wider social meanings of sport.
Photo Mosaics & Digital Art
Commissioned visual storytelling projects preserving memory, volunteering histories and community identity through design.
How art heals
Throughout our work, art is presented not as decoration but as a transformative tool. Creative participation can shift mood, outlook and understanding; it can move people from stress toward reflection, from fear toward possibility, and from isolation toward connection.
That philosophy animates the NINE RED approach: exhibitions, performance, workshops, movement, poetry and public installation function not only as cultural output, but as ways of changing how people feel, understand and imagine.
It is this combination of artistry and care that gives the organisation its distinctive voice.
Bring the work into new spaces
NINE RED Presents…(CIC) creates public-facing artwork, workshops, exhibitions and thoughtful cultural interventions across communities, schools, organisations and events.
We welcome enquiries from commissioners, partners and communities who would like to explore consultation, collaboration or bespoke creative work.
A living archive of creativity and care
NINE RED Presents…(CIC) is an evolving practice of healing, making, exhibiting, remembering and reimagining what culture can do in public life.