Child safety sessions for 10 schools across the borough

This week, many young people from across Blackburn with Darwen are receiving important safety advice to prepare them for independent travelling.

The ‘Crucial Crew’ event is co-ordinated by Child Safety Media in partnership with Blackburn Community Safety Partnership and held at the Somme Barracks in Blackburn. It aims to educate those in year 6 who are about to go to secondary education, how to travel safely and prevent accidents before they happen. The council has provided £3500 towards the event, which subsidises cost of delivery and enables digital resources to be given to those attending. 

Almost 500 pupils are taking part in important lessons from a wide range of agencies, including Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service, Blackburn with Darwen borough council, and even Blackburn Rovers FC. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service are educating the children on water safety, while young person’s drug and alcohol charity Early Break are discussing drug use. Other sessions include commuter safety, highlighting anti-social behaviour, and rail safety.

Representing the council is Katie Boulton, a road safety officer from our Highways department. Katie is delivering a series of road safety sessions to educate children on the risks of the road. This includes giving the children a scenario such as how long it would take to get back to the kerb based on the stopping distance of a car and quizzing them on the information they’ve been given using their phones and multiple-choice questions.

Katie said:

These sessions are really enjoyable for me, and really informative for the pupils. It’s been a pleasure to work with Child Safety Media and we are grateful for the partnership we have with them. Preventing incidents through road safety education is crucial to keep the children of the borough safe, and I’m really happy to be a part of educating them about that.

The schools that are taking part in Crucial Crew are:

• St Stephen’s CE Primary School
• Longshaw Junior School
• Brookhouse Community Primary School
• Daisyfield Primary School
• St Edward’s RC Primary School
• Feniscowles Primary School
• St Matthew’s Church of England School
• St Silas CE Primary School
• Griffin Park Primary School
• St Paul’s RC Primary School

Quesir Mahmood, Executive Member for Growth and Development said:

It’s fantastic to see that our officers are proactive in helping the next generation of the borough. This will help them become more confident in travelling around  and allow them to develop a sense of independence. This was a worthy cause to contribute to and I wish the pupils all the best in their next chapter.