Making Safety Child's Play
More than 1,200 children have been finding out how they can avoid accidents while playing through a child safety event held in South Tyneside.
With the majority of accidents experienced by 10 and 11-years-olds happening at play or on the roads, the Reducing Accidents at Play (RAP) initiative aims to explore the major risks for this age group and help them to learn basic skills to stay safe.
Making Safety Child's Play
Pupils from St Oswalds CofE (Hebburn) and Bede Burn primary schools join Cllr Jim Foreman, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s Prevention Education Officer Colin Soulsby and Cllr Ernest Gibson for the Reducing Accidents at Play event.
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The event, held at South Shields community Fire Station, featured interactive scenarios run by different organisations to help deliver safety messages to Year 6 pupils across the Borough. These covered the dangers of fires, roads, water and electricity. It also included a chip pan fire demonstration.
It has involved 1,201 children across 24 schools over a two-week period.
Councillor Jim Foreman, Lead Member for Housing and Community Safety at South Tyneside Council, said: "We are delighted to be working with partners to bring back the Reducing Accidents at Play event promoting safety awareness among this age group and helping them to understand that play doesn't have to be risky to be fun.
"The event covers many of the dangers associated with different types of play whether at home or outside and engages them in a fun and interactive way. It teaches important life skills to help avoid accidents and learn what to do if anything was to happen.
"It makes sense to try to educate our children at an early age so they are better prepared to spot the dangers and keep themselves and their friends safe."
The annual event has been reintroduced following the covid pandemic and is organised by South Tyneside Council's Road Safety Department with support from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.
Steven Thomas, Group Manager for Prevention and Education at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are always pleased to be included in the Reducing Accidents at Play initiative.
"Events like this allow us to continue to help keep the communities of South Tyneside safe, by delivering key road safety messages to a large number of young people over the two-week programme of events."
Other organisations involved include Nexus, Northern Powergrid and the RNLI.